The Waste of Motion

 

Have you ever wondered how much productive time is lost in walking from point A to point B? I reviewed a year's worth of data on industries like healthcare and distribution and found that nearly 50% of the total time in the work day was spent in motion.  Recall that there are 7 common wastes we see when work is performed.  These wastes are:

1) Over Production

2) Over Processing

3) Defects

4) Waiting

5) Inventory

6) Transportation

7) Motion

The movement of people that is not necessary to create value is the waste of motion.  What does this actually cost us? Let's assume we have 600 nurses in our organization, or 600 pickers in a distribution center. If 50 % of the time is spent in motion, then we have lost the ability of over 300 people to create value. If you put $ to this question, we are speaking in the millions annually.

How much does it cost to eliminate the waste of motion? Usually by a simple redesign (like relocating equipment, supplies, materials, and information) motion can be reduced by about 50%. In terms of the example above, this is the equivalent of 25% of your total personnel count or 150 people! With savings like this, it might be time to cancel the open requisitions for new hires!

The tool that is used to show the waste of motion is the spaghetti map. Creating a spaghetti map involves getting a scaled drawing of the work area and then drawing lines that show where a person goes to complete one cycle of work. When you review the lines at the end of your direct observation, you get a map that looks like a plate of spaghetti. Hence the name "spaghetti map". Note, many creators of the spaghetti map follow a person for a period of time.  This application, while showing lot's of motion, is incorrect.  The proper use to show one cycle of work, with the caveat that one cycle of work can have different meanings to different processes. 

An example of the spaghetti map is posted below.

Once you understand the current condition from an analysis of your map, you can then identify the sources of the motion and develop strategies to eliminate or reduce. This activity is lean at its core, "seeing and eliminating waste".

The spaghetti map can also be used to track the movement of materials, but this would be the waste of transportation, and we'll save that topic for a later blog.

So get your pencil, find a great place to observe, and start mapping. When wasted motion can be eliminated or reduced and resources are scarce, the benefits of using this tool are apparent.

Lean Blessings;

Ron Bercaw

President, Breakthrough Horizons Ltd

www.breakthroughhorizons.com