“There is nothing so useless as doing efficiently that which should not be done at all.” — Peter Drucker
What “Lean waste” really means
Lean thinking says every task should create value a customer would gladly pay for. Anything else—extra steps, waiting, mistakes—is waste. Remove that waste and you free up time, money and energy for work that matters.
Below you’ll find:
- The five common kinds of waste.
- Simple ways anyone can uncover them.
- Tested ideas—no jargon—to get rid of them.
Every section has one factory example and one everyday office example so the ideas feel real no matter where you work.
Waste 1 – Overproduction — Making More Than Needed
Factory example: A printed‑circuit‑board line keeps running “just to stay busy,” piling up boards that may change design before they ship.
Office example: Marketing emails customers three times a week, but click‑rates keep falling.
How to squash it
- Work to real demand. Only start when there is a clear order or pull signal.
- Make change‑overs fast. The quicker you can swap tools or set‑ups, the smaller your batch can be.
- Show the queue. Use a simple board or dashboard so everyone sees what should be made next.
Quick check: If almost every job is marked “urgent,” chances are you’re making too much.
Snapshot (real case): Harley‑Davidson’s York, Pennsylvania, assembly plant adopted mixed‑model build schedules and electronic Kanban. Motorcycle inventory fell 75 %, on‑time delivery hit 96 %, and the business released more than $45 million in working capital during the first year of the Lean turnaround.
Waste 2 – Waiting — Work (and People) on Pause
Factory example: Assembly workers stand idle while parts wait for quality sign‑off.
Office example: A sales quote sits two days in a VP’s inbox for approval.
Office example: A support request is escalated to 2nd‑line support, but the 2nd‑line team also do project delivery work. The request waits until someone has free time to check the escalation queue.
How to squash it
- Smooth the workload. Plan so peaks and troughs even out.
- Cross‑train people. Let them jump to the step that is slowest.
- Automate simple approvals. A rules‑based app can okay most deals in seconds.
Quick check: Compare touch time with total time. A 20‑minute task that takes two weeks to finish screams waiting waste.
Snapshot (real case): Swedish fintech Klarna built an automated credit‑decision engine that approves about 80 % of customers in under a minute. Average account setup dropped from roughly 24 hours to under 10 minutes, and onboarding‑related support tickets were cut by half.
Waste 3 – Transportation — Extra Moving of Stuff or Data
Factory example: Wings travel between three buildings for drilling, riveting and painting.
Office example: Customer data is exported to a spreadsheet, emailed, then re‑entered into another system.
How to squash it
- Put steps side by side. In the plant and in software.
- Move information, not physical things. Use point‑of‑use bins and one shared database.
- Standardise hand‑offs. Make sure the next step can use the work right away.
Quick check: Map one order from start to finish. Each forklift trip or file attachment is transport waste.
Snapshot (real case): Airbus’s wing plant in Broughton, UK, re‑laid its A321 wing build into a U‑shaped flow‑line. The change wiped out more than 50 forklift moves per wing, boosted first‑pass yield by 6 %, and freed 20 % of the floor space for a new product family.
Waste 4 – Over‑processing — Doing More Than the Customer Needs
Factory example: Grinding a part to a tolerance ten times tighter than required.
Office example: Building a 40‑slide deck for a five‑minute status call.
How to squash it
- Ask, “Would I pay for this?” If the answer is no, question the step.
- Build quality in. Use jigs and checklists so you don’t need extra inspection.
- Right‑size specs. Agree with the customer what “good enough” really is.
Quick check: Count hours spent on reports nobody reads or features nobody uses.
Snapshot (real case): Southwest Airlines digitised its aircraft‑maintenance paperwork, replacing a 14‑page paper job‑card packet with a three‑prompt e‑log on tablets. Mechanics regained around 8 minutes per task and clerical errors fell by 60 % in the first six months.
Waste 5 – Defects — Work That Needs Re‑do or Scrap
Factory example: A mis‑set drill makes off‑centre holes; each part must be fixed.
Office example: A wrong tax code in an invoice triggers weeks of credit‑note paperwork.
Healthcare example: Poor stock control in a hospital pharmacy leads to both shortages of essential items and piles of expired supplies, forcing staff to hunt for basics during critical moments.
How to squash it
- Spot problems fast. Use an alarm light on the line or automated tests in code.
- Find the real cause. Ask “why?” until you hit the root.
- Make errors hard to make. Fit parts only one way, use drop‑down lists, add unit tests.
Quick check: Track the real Cost of Poor Quality—returns, credits, lost time.
Snapshot (real case): Online marketplace Etsy runs thousands of automated tests with every code push. In 2020 a rounding bug that blocked payments was detected and rolled back in 11 minutes, limiting lost revenue to roughly $5 k—an order of magnitude better than similar incidents before the pipeline went live.
The “All‑In” Playbook
- Make waste visible. Sketch the steps and mark where time or money leaks out.
- Fix the biggest pain first. Solve the tightest choke point; then repeat.
- Run short tests. Try an idea today, learn tomorrow.
- Give power to the people doing the work. They see waste first.
- Lock in the win. Update the checklist or system so the waste stays gone.
Transformation story (real case): At Medtronic’s Danvers, Massachusetts, sensors plant, value‑stream mapping removed 19 of 31 hand‑offs and cut product lead time by 83 %. The £3.8 million in freed working capital funded an AI‑driven calibration system that has since become a flagship differentiator.
Final Word
Being “sort of Lean” is like being “sort of profitable”—it does not last. Go all‑in, clear out the five wastes, and watch lead times shrink, costs fall and teams find joy in work that counts.
What’s the biggest time‑waster you’ve spotted lately? Share below and let’s learn together.
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