Waiting Waste is one of the eight wastes identified in Lean Six Sigma methodology, often remembered through the acronym TIMWOODS (Transportation, Inventory, Motion, Waiting, Overproduction, Overprocessing, Defects, and Skills). During the Define Phase of a Lean Six Sigma project, identifying and un…Waiting Waste is one of the eight wastes identified in Lean Six Sigma methodology, often remembered through the acronym TIMWOODS (Transportation, Inventory, Motion, Waiting, Overproduction, Overprocessing, Defects, and Skills). During the Define Phase of a Lean Six Sigma project, identifying and understanding Waiting Waste is crucial for establishing the scope and potential improvement areas of your project.
Waiting Waste occurs when people, materials, equipment, or information are idle and not being utilized productively. This type of waste represents lost time that could otherwise be spent adding value to products or services. Common examples include employees waiting for approvals, materials sitting in queues before processing, machines standing idle between production runs, customers waiting in lines, and teams waiting for information from other departments.
In the Define Phase, project teams use various tools to identify Waiting Waste. Process mapping and Value Stream Mapping help visualize where delays occur in workflows. SIPOC diagrams (Suppliers, Inputs, Process, Outputs, Customers) can highlight potential bottlenecks. Voice of the Customer data may reveal customer frustrations related to delays and wait times.
The impact of Waiting Waste extends beyond simple time loss. It increases lead times, reduces throughput, ties up working capital, decreases customer satisfaction, and can demotivate employees who experience frequent idle periods. Financial consequences include higher labor costs per unit produced and potential lost revenue from delayed deliveries.
Root causes of Waiting Waste typically include unbalanced workloads, poor scheduling, equipment breakdowns, batch processing approaches, unclear priorities, and communication gaps between teams or departments. During the Define Phase, teams should quantify the extent of waiting in current processes using cycle time analysis and efficiency calculations.
Addressing Waiting Waste often involves implementing pull systems, improving communication channels, cross-training employees, balancing workloads, and establishing clearer approval processes. Reducing this waste leads to faster delivery times, improved efficiency, and enhanced customer satisfaction.
Waiting Waste in Six Sigma Green Belt - Define Phase
What is Waiting Waste?
Waiting waste is one of the eight wastes (TIMWOODS) identified in Lean Six Sigma methodology. It refers to any idle time created when materials, information, people, or equipment are not ready when needed. This includes time spent waiting for approvals, waiting for the previous process step to complete, waiting for equipment to be repaired, or waiting for information to make decisions.
Why is Waiting Waste Important?
Understanding waiting waste is crucial for several reasons:
• It adds no value to the customer but consumes resources and time • It increases lead time and delays product or service delivery • It ties up capital in work-in-progress inventory • It can lead to employee frustration and decreased morale • It often signals imbalanced workloads or poor process design • Eliminating waiting waste improves overall process efficiency and customer satisfaction
How Waiting Waste Works
Waiting waste occurs in various forms:
People Waiting: Employees standing idle while waiting for machines, materials, instructions, or approvals
Machine Waiting: Equipment sitting idle due to lack of materials, operators, or maintenance
Material Waiting: Raw materials or work-in-progress sitting in queues between process steps
Information Waiting: Processes stalled due to missing data, delayed approvals, or pending decisions
Common Examples of Waiting Waste:
• Waiting for signatures or management approval • Waiting for a batch to be complete before moving to the next step • Waiting for equipment repairs or maintenance • Waiting for information from another department • Waiting for parts or supplies to arrive • Customers waiting in queues for service
How to Identify Waiting Waste:
• Process mapping and value stream analysis • Time studies and cycle time analysis • Observation of work areas (Gemba walks) • Employee interviews and feedback • Measuring queue times between process steps
Solutions for Reducing Waiting Waste:
• Implement pull systems and kanban • Balance workloads across processes • Cross-train employees for flexibility • Establish clear approval hierarchies and reduce approval layers • Implement preventive maintenance programs • Improve communication channels between departments • Use single-piece flow where possible
Exam Tips: Answering Questions on Waiting Waste
1. Know the Definition: Be prepared to define waiting waste precisely as idle time when resources are not available when needed.
2. Memorize Examples: Learn multiple examples across different industries - manufacturing, healthcare, service, and office environments.
3. Connect to Other Concepts: Understand how waiting waste relates to other Lean concepts like flow, pull systems, and takt time.
4. Distinguish from Other Wastes: Be able to differentiate waiting waste from inventory waste or transportation waste. Waiting focuses on time delays, not physical movement or storage.
5. Remember TIMWOODS: Know where waiting fits in the eight wastes acronym (Transportation, Inventory, Motion, Waiting, Overprocessing, Overproduction, Defects, Skills underutilization).
6. Focus on Root Causes: Exam questions may ask about causes of waiting waste - think about unbalanced lines, large batch sizes, and poor scheduling.
7. Know the Solutions: Be familiar with countermeasures like leveling workloads, implementing flow, and reducing batch sizes.
8. Calculate Impact: Some questions may require calculating the cost or time impact of waiting waste on overall cycle time or efficiency.
9. Scenario Questions: When given a scenario, look for keywords like idle, queue, delay, pending, or on hold to identify waiting waste.