Minimising Waste
Why waste should be kept to a minimum
⦁ Waste is business can be said to be
⦁ Resources consumed by inefficient or non essential activities
⦁ Unwanted material left over from a production process with no value
⦁ A process or material that does not ( from the viewpoint of the customer) add value goods or services
⦁ A material admitted to the environment in such a manner that it is causing harmful change
Implications of waste
Waste can have may implications to a business.It can be inconvenient, have an impact on the environment, cause delays by wasting time and material, and also increase costs to the business.
How can waste increase cost to a business?
⦁ Cost of wasted materials,energy costs and unproductive time
⦁ Costs of storing,moving and disposing of waste
⦁ Decreased competition compared with other businesses
⦁ Potential need to raise prices or look at reducing margins
The main causes of waste
Reducing waste is important for businesses as it gives them the opportunity to be more efficient.
When looking for the cause of waste, use the 5 whys. The simple why? question is asked over and over again until you discover what is causing the problem- this is known as Root cause analysis.
Common causes of waste include
⦁ People-Human error or lack of training can result in more waste, as tasks are not being completed efficiently
⦁ Materials and equipment- faults in raw materials/components or equipment can cause more waste as it can result i costly sub-standard products
⦁ Planning of processes-managerial decisions could affect the efficiency or processes. An example could be over/under supplying products and services.
Ways of keeping waste to a minimum
The four broad approaches to minimising waste are:
⦁ Prevention
⦁ Correction
⦁ Train staff to identify waste and inform the appropriate people
⦁ Apply techniques such as lean production
However even the most efficient business have some waste, the best businesses acknowledge their waste and then seek to reduce it.
