Lean

Forms of Waste

1. Transport (moving products that are not actually required to perform the processing)
2. Inventory (all components, work in process and finished product not being processed)
3. Motion (people or equipment moving or walking more than is required to perform the processing)
4. Waiting (waiting for the next production step)
5. Overproduction (production ahead of demand)
6. Over Processing (resulting from poor tool or product design creating activity)
7. Defects (the effort involved in inspecting for and fixing defects)

   The seven items above are remembered, by some, using the acronym TIM WOOD.

8. Manufacturing goods or services that do not meet customer demand or specifications
9. Waste of unused human talent

However, do not eliminate waste to the point that production levelling is not possible. For example, having an excess of cheap post office counter staff or call centre operators may be required to prevent loss of a high value customer.