Industrial Refuse Overproduction: Waste Problem for All

Did you know that auto manufacturer Toyota has identified seven distinct areas of wasteful inefficiency, all of which can be attributed to any manufacturing operation today? Fundamentally, these wasteful areas that will really kill profitability and open up your organization to charges of excess and a lack of sustainability are: overproduction, waiting time, transport, process, inventory, movement (or motion) and poor quality control.

It can be deceiving to think that just because you can't see any waste, then waste is not there. Overproduction waste is a glaring example and it's true today that most companies pay only token lipservice to the concept of waste production. In fact, many organizations believe that overproduction is a necessary part of doing business.

Overproduction waste is simply the production of goods in quantities that are greater than demand. This position will be especially aggravated during an economic slowdown and will become very difficult to reverse. For a single item to be considered to have been "overproduced", it has to incur additional waste elements throughout the entire lifecycle process.

In corporate culture, there is a feeling that if a production line is not utilized 100% of the time, or if particular employees are allowed to be idle at all, that this is more wasteful than letting them operate 24/7. This is a very common misconception which needs a more intelligent assessment of equipment ROI.

Any company will have the risk of draining its resources if it continues to neglect the overproduction waste and the overall excesses in its operations. Remember that every item produced carries a cost in terms of backup, support, administration, finance and other overheads and as it sits on a shelf, the company's profit potential also gathers dust with it.

Systemically, overproduction waste can be reduced or eliminated if a management system is incorporated to reveal excesses and also to correlate production to the work order pipeline. Quite simply, if a sale is not made or projected, the production equipment should be constrained from engaging.

Every company in the near future will be compelled to address environmental responsibility due to the economic pressures that would be a consequence of environmental neglect. Other than carbon emissions reduction, sustainability could also involve other areas such as water use consolidation, waste reduction, and minimizing any form of excesses.

Fully inclusive sustainability management tools could help to educate the company's management and identify areas of inefficiency, such as overproduction waste. Such systems will almost always pay for themselves in short order.