Waste Identification and Elimination

There are seven types of waste that are the focus of any Lean initiative:
  • Overproduction (making more than what is needed or making it earlier than needed)
  • Transportation (moving products farther than is minimally required)
  • Waiting (products waiting on the next production step or people waiting for work to do)
  • Inventory (having more inventory than is minimally required)
  • Motion (people moving or walking more than minimally required)
  • Processing itself
  • Defects (the effort involved in inspecting for and fixing defects)