If you are a business owner, I’m sure this heading caught your attention! Effectively improving profit is an outcome all businesses strive for. There are many ways in which you can do this, but this article focuses on eliminating the seven areas of waste that all businesses experience. Studies have shown as much as 30% of all operating costs of a business is waste!

The first step in this process is to understand the three stages of Business Improvement:

Structure

Identify – identify potential wastes and inefficiencies

Belief – believing you have the capability and readiness in the business and relationships to address these wastes

To begin the elimination journey, you need to identify and measure where you are now, otherwise there is no way to understand or gauge improvement - remember the old saying “what gets measured gets managed”. This is achieved by auditing your business.

Power Tynan can facilitate this process, enabling the identification and prioritisation of wastes. This process will require the formation of a team to address the issues and measure the outcomes every six months to reveal improvements.

The seven areas of waste to be considered are:

Overproduction– producing more than is needed or before it is required (this can be product or people)

Waiting– where waiting occurs between steps in a process

Transportation– transport between stages in a process

Inappropriate Processing– ensure you are using the right tool or person to complete the task

Inventory– ensure you do not have unnecessary inventory or work in progress

Motions– poor ergonomics, having equipment in the wrong place or having to move too much

Defects– rework

An example of a waste audit is below:

If you would like to discuss how Power Tynan can facilitate this process within your business, please contact your trusted adviser.