8 Wastes

What is Waste in Lean?

In Lean, “waste” refers to any activity that consumes resources but does not add value. ​
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One of the foundational concepts of implementing Lean is understanding how to identify and eliminate waste. By shifting resources to value adding steps, projects and people can improve efficiency, reduce costs, and deliver greater value to their customers.

8 Wastes Playlist

What Are the 8 Types of Waste?

Business Drivers

  • Reducing the amount of work required to perform tasks.
  • More efficient business processes.
  • Increasing value for customers.
  • Improving competitiveness within the industry.

Benefits

  • Increase productivity and efficiency.
  • Improve operational performance.
  • Reduce cost and increase profits.
  • More satisfied customers.
  • Inventory reductions.
  • Increase workspace utilization.
  • Reduce lead time for orders.

How to Apply the 8 Wastes

The goal of process improvement is to identify and remove all forms of waste from a process in order to increase efficiency, reduce cost and optimize stakeholder value. Waste is any step in a process that is not required (non-value adding) to complete a process successfully. Focusing on value-adding steps allows resources to be focused on delivering products or services that meet customers’ needs.

8 Types of Waste

8 Types of Waste Graphic
The diagram summarizes the 8 common forms of waste in Lean operations. Use it as a reference when assessing your processes for inefficiencies.

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Best Practices

  • Clarify operating procedures and specifications to ensure waste-free processes.
  • Reduce large batches.
  • Use value stream mapping and process mapping to identify and eliminate waste.

Do

  • Ensure that employees are actively involved in their processes by encouraging them to take ownership.
  • Identify what is needed and why, then remove extra steps, efforts and processes that add no value.

Don’t

  • Consider the process for identifying and eliminating wastes a one-time action.
  • Exclude your frontline workers and their input for process improvement.

Dive Deeper into Lean Methods