Eliminating Office Waste

Watch this slideshow to explore how waste can be found throughout the work done in the office processes. Often, Lean methods are considered only applicable in a manufacturing context. Sometimes, Lean methods are applied in a service industry when there is direct contact with customers. However, this slide show provides some examples of how waste (as identified by Lean) can be found throughout all parts of an organization.

Eliminating Overproduction

  • Could you create visuals to prevent early processing?
  • Could standards be created for each process?
  • Is the workflow sequence properly established?

Eliminating Wait/Queue Time

  • Are employees cross-trained to step in when someone in not there?
  • Is the workload balances?
  • Are all supplies available when needed?

Eliminating Over-Processing

  • Look at the process and streamline or eliminate steps wherever possible.


Eliminating Inventory

  • Produce only enough to satisfy your downstream customer's requirements.
  • Can you standardize work locations and inventory levels?

Eliminating Motion

  • Is your desk set up so that the items you use most often are easily accessible?

Eliminating Defects

  • Do you use standard work procedures and standard office forms?
  • Could work aids be made and posted so that workers would know when they were doing the job correctly?

Eliminating Transportation

  • Eliminate temporary storage locations.
  • Designate a place for all items.
  • Make sure the storage location is near the point of use so that an object is moved as short a distance as possible.

Question

Have you thought of any ways to eliminate the wastes in your office?

Source: Kaye Krueger, https://www.wisc-online.com/learn/technical/engineering/eng23820/eliminating-office-waste
Creative Commons License This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 License.

Last modified: Wednesday, April 5, 2023, 5:45 PM