Transportation waste is one of the 8 wastes of Lean which means that it can have significant impacts on the efficiency and cost of a process. Within the world of manufacturing, reducing transportation waste is crucial for achieving operational excellence and continuous improvement.
Although transportation waste is most commonly discussed within manufacturing, it can also be present in other industries and even in our everyday lives. Therefore, understanding the causes of transportation waste and implementing strategies to reduce it is vital for us to achieve optimal efficiency in our work and lives. In this article, we will explore the concept of transportation waste, its causes, examples, and the strategies we can implement to reduce it.
What is transportation waste?
Transportation waste refers to the unnecessary movement of resources during a process.
These resources can be:
- products,
- materials,
- equipment,
- tools,
- or people.
This type of waste can occur when any resource is moved excessively between different process stages or between storage locations, thus adding time and cost to the process without adding value.
Therefore, it is crucial that organizations and individuals carefully analyze their processes to ensure that they are reducing or eliminating transportation waste. In a lean manufacturing environment, the goal is to minimize waste and streamline processes, so reducing transportation waste is an important part of this philosophy.
What are the effects of transportation waste?
The effects of transportation waste can be vast and will directly impact the efficiency and cost of a process.
Some of the effects and costs associated with transportation waste include:
- Increased handling costs: If you have to transport material from one location to another, this requires handling. Therefore, you may need to pay for equipment to carry the material, employees to operate the equipment or move the material, training procedures, and additional space to move the materials to.
- Longer lead times: The time it takes to transport material can increase the length or cycle time of a process. This will then increase the overall lead time. Therefore, transportation waste can have a direct impact on customer satisfaction.
- Higher labor demands: Moving material around requires labor, which can increase staffing needs and the cost of the process.
- Increased storage costs: Storing material in multiple locations can increase the cost of storage and the need for additional space.
- Increased chance of errors: Moving material from one location to another can increase the likelihood of errors and misplacement. This can result in lost time and additional costs.
- Equipment wear and tear: Excessive transportation using equipment, such as forklifts or cars, can lead to increased wear and tear on the equipment. Therefore, you may need to replace the equipment more often which leads to increased costs.
- Defect waste: During transportation, there is a higher risk that materials will be damaged. This means that transportation waste can directly contribute to defect waste which is another one of the 8 wastes of Lean.
- Waiting waste: If people need to wait for materials to be transported before starting the next step in a process, this can lead to delays and equipment downtime. Therefore, transportation waste can also directly lead to waiting waste which is another one of the 8 wastes of Lean.
Overall, transportation waste can be very costly for a variety of different reasons. Therefore, it is critical to identify areas where you can reduce it in your processes in order to improve efficiency, reduce costs, and increase customer satisfaction.
Transportation Waste vs. Motion Waste
Oftentimes, people will confuse transportation waste with another one of the 8 wastes of Lean: motion waste.
Although both of these forms of waste introduce additional cost and inefficiencies in a process due to excessive movement, they are distinct concepts.
As we have discussed so far throughout this article, transportation waste refers to the excessive movement of resources from one location to another during a process. Therefore, transportation waste refers to wasted movement between different workcells of a process.
Motion waste, on the other hand, refers to wasted movement within a single workcell. This can be ergonomic issues such as excessive reaching, bending, or repositioning. It can also be excessive movement between tasks within the workcell. For example, needing to open and close different files on a computer for each step in the process.
The goal of lean thinking is always to reduce any forms of waste in a process so it is important to keep an eye out for both of these forms of waste at all times.
What are the causes of transportation waste?
There can be several causes of transportation waste in lean manufacturing, including:
- Poor layout design: An inefficient layout of the production floor can result in unnecessary movements of materials between workstations and storage locations. An example of this is shown in the image below.
✔️ TIP: A spaghetti diagram can be a useful tool for defining the workflow of the process.
- Lack of standardization: If there is a lack of standardization in the production process, materials or people may be moved unnecessarily between workstations to complete tasks.
- Inadequate inventory management: If inventory management is not optimized, materials may be stored in multiple locations, resulting in unnecessary movements to access them.
- Disconnected processes: If different departments or stages of the production process are not well-connected or coordinated, materials may be moved unnecessarily between them.
- Lack of automation: If automation is not used or not used effectively, materials may be moved manually, adding to the cost and time required for production.
- Poor communication: If communication between departments or production stages is poor, materials may be moved unnecessarily or duplicated, adding to the cost and time required for production.
To reduce transportation waste in lean manufacturing, it is important to analyze the production process, identify the root causes of waste, and implement solutions to eliminate them. This may involve reorganizing the production floor, using automation, improving inventory management, standardizing processes, and improving communication between departments.
What are some examples of transportation waste?
Examples in Manufacturing
Here are some examples of transportation waste in manufacturing:
- Moving materials from one production stage to another: For example, if products are moved from one workstation to another for inspection, and then back to the original workstation for further processing, this adds time to the process which also increases costs.
- Storing material in multiple locations: If materials are stored in multiple locations, there will often be unnecessary movement to relocate or access items. In particular, if some materials are stored in an off-site location, this can result in wasted time retrieving items and added cost to move items between the storage location and the manufacturing site.
- Using a central inspection station for products: If products are moved to a central inspection station for quality control, it can result in unnecessary movement and added time and cost to the production process.
- Moving products for packaging or shipping: If the packaging or shipping processes are not in close proximity to the last step in the production process, you will lose efficiency due to the need to transport product from the end of the manufacturing line to the packaging and shipping workcell.
- Tools used in multiple work cells: If multiple work cells in the production process need to use the same tool, it is much more efficient to have duplicate tools with one in each work cell rather than spending time moving one tool between areas.
Examples in Other Industries
Transportation waste is not limited to the manufacturing industry, and can occur in many other industries, such as:
- Retail: If products are moved between store locations for inventory management or for display purposes, the transportation costs can become significant.
- Healthcare: If medical supplies are located at one central storage location in the facility rather than having a supply in each treatment room, the need to collect supplies before treating each patient can result in delays in providing care.
- Construction: If construction equipment is actively used at two job sites at the same time, the wasted time transporting the equipment back and forth between sites can delay both jobs.
- Logistics and transportation: If products are moved between warehouses or transportation hubs before shipment to the final customer, this can add significant cost to the process and result in shipping delays and longer lead times.
🤿 DIVE DEEPER: Here is a case study that takes a deeper look at the impacts of transportation waste in the construction industry.
Examples in Everyday Life
Transportation waste can also occur in everyday life, some examples include:
- Commuting: Commuting long distances to work can consume a significant portion of someone’s free time and become expensive due to gas or public transportation costs and increased wear and tear on their vehicle.
- Running errands: If people have to travel to multiple stores to complete errands rather than just one, it will have a detrimental impact on their lives due to wasted time and increased transportation costs.
- Delivery services: If delivery services have to make multiple trips to the same location for different deliveries, this will result in added cost and time to the process.
In each of these examples, reducing or eliminating unnecessary movements can help reduce transportation waste and improve efficiency in everyday life. This may involve planning and organizing activities in advance, using technology and automation, or improving transportation options.
How can you reduce transportation waste?
Here are some ways to reduce transportation waste:
- Improve process design: Analyze the production process to identify opportunities to reduce unnecessary movements of materials. This may involve reorganizing the production floor, standardizing processes, or improving inventory management. Value stream mapping is a good tool to use to analyze the current flow of the process.
- Implement automation: Automation can help reduce transportation waste by reducing the need for manual movement of materials and improving the efficiency of the production process.
- Improve communication: Ensure clear communication between departments or production stages to reduce duplicated efforts and unnecessary movements of materials.
- Optimize inventory management: Implement effective inventory management practices to reduce the need for multiple storage locations and improve access to materials.
- Use technology: Use technology such as barcode scanning or GPS tracking to improve visibility and accuracy of the movements of materials.
- Continuously monitor and improve: Regularly review the production process and implement continuous improvement initiatives to identify and eliminate new sources of transportation waste.
Conclusion
Overall, transportation waste can have a significant impact on the efficiency and cost of production in the manufacturing industry. Implementing a lean manufacturing approach, with a focus on reducing all forms of waste, can help organizations improve the efficiency of their production process, reduce costs, and increase customer satisfaction. By continuously monitoring and improving their production processes, organizations can identify and eliminate new sources of waste, and achieve operational excellence. Can you think of some examples of transportation waste in your work or personal life? We’d love to hear about your experiences in the comments below!
