In continuing our exploration of the four key areas of waste in manufacturing, we now come to the second waste – conveyance. We all know that moving materials provides zero value to the customer or ourselves. It’s the perfect place for waste to hide.
An unfortunate measure I’ve seen some organizations take to “improve” conveyance is building up an inventory of materials. Their thought behind this is that if they’re not moving the materials, then there can’t be any conveyance waste. Right?
Not exactly. Inventory chokes your business with waste; so much so that I posted a sketch about it last month. What’s a better remedy for conveyance? Take a look at this month’s sketch and find out – and don’t forget to watch my animation too.
