Now she needed only to lay the cable along the marks and cut it to the desired length. This change reduced the number of repetitive hand movements and saved about three minutes on each part processed. He negotiated with his suppliers to stock job parts on a consignment basis. When the job is completed, the unused parts are returned to the supplier and Projects pays only for the parts used. This way, no money is tied up in surplus inventory.
Overnight shipping is another area where waste can creep in.
When looking for waste, measure value from the customer's perspective. If a step doesn't add value for the customer, eliminate or change it. Empower your employees Alan Seitz, president of Seitz Corporation in Torrington, designer and manufacturer of thermoplastic components, has also implemented kaizen. Alan regularly shares his company's financial information with employees. He shows them charts and graphs with a comparison of this year's figures to last year's.