ChangeWise Quick Read: The 8 Classic Wastes of TPS

In this quick read, we offer a high-level overview of the 8 Lean wastes, including how to spot them, why they are bad for your organisation, and tips on how to find and reduce them.

Continuous Lean Improvement aims to remove non-value add work from business processes – these are the heaviest drain on profit in your organisation.

Where did the 8 wastes originate?

The 7 wastes; Transportation, Inventory, Motion, Waiting, Over-production, Over-processing and Defects, were originally categorised by Taiichi Ohno within the Toyota Production System (TPS). The 8th waste of non-utilised ‘skills’ of workers was later introduced in the 1990s when TPS was adopted in the Western world. As a result, the 8 wastes are commonly referred to as the acronym ‘TIMWOODS’.

Let’s take a look at each waste:

1. Transport

 

2. Inventory

 

3. Motion

 

4. Waiting

 

5. Over Production

 

6. Over Processing

 

7. Defects

 

8. Skills

 

Summary

The 8 wastes add unnecessary cost and time to your business. To identify them, use Lean Value Stream Mapping (VSM). Understand which process steps are value-add and identify instances of the 8 wastes. Develop a plan for removing them!

The first step to reducing waste is recognising that it exists within your organisation.

Want to know more? contact us at info@changewise.co.uk

ChangeWise believes employee engagement is the foundation for successful Change. Training and coaching your people to use simple continuous improvement techniques will enable your organisation to continuously adapt and stay ahead in a constantly changing and challenging environment.

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