Waste walks are structured activities that are completed on a regular schedule. During the waste walk members observe what is actually happening at the point of work and ask themselves questions about the work being done. Review of process KPI, comparison to current process maps, and progress of other improvement activities can be incorporated but should always be a secondary action after the primary purpose of the waste walk is complete. Waste walks must be done with direct observation.
Only by direct observation can you see how the work actually happens — how materials, information, and staff flow through the value stream. Best practice is to quickly walk through the entire process or portion of process under study to understand the overall context, and then proceed with a deep dive by following a piece of work or information step-by-step through the entire flow.
Direct observation is a critical component of Lean Manufacturing because it is the best way to see the reality, expose and quantify hidden costs in the way work is done, and understand the root causes of the problems. With this knowledge, the team can generate improvement ideas that eliminate the real root causes of the waste.
Do not steer the conversation towards a personal interest or away from inconvenient topics, let the real truth come out. Over time and with each success the waste walk process breaks down barriers to improvement. The team will develop a self-sustaining continuous improvement culture when they see that their efforts and results are appreciated by senior leadership at their point of work.
Learn how to work with people and company culture to effectively implement changes. Before the walk prepare the participants by providing a summary of the 8 Deadly Wastes, refresh them on the purpose and practice of how to do a waste walk, as well as the current process map if available.
Print out the Waste Walk Template for each member. Share relevant information if there are known problems in the area. Huddle with your waste walk members before going to the work location to answer any questions and pair up if desired. When the team arrives at the point of work explain to the people in the area that you are observing how work flows through the area and you want to observe how the process operates so please work normally.
If Lean is relatively new to your organization expect your staff may be nervous and self-conscious so reassure them that the observers are not there to check on them or their performance. Start your observation.
If the process is lengthy and complex it can be helpful to do a 5-min quick run through as a group so everyone has the same basic understanding and assign areas of focus to each person or partner doing the walk. Study the work for a period of time until you have observed it thoroughly.
Narrow your scope if necessary so that the time available is sufficient. Identify wastes, risks, and opportunities. Make note of your observations on the Waste Walk Template and be sure to fill in all of the fields.
Discuss your observations with the employee doing the work and get their input on the 4 questions. Expert Tip: Listen and learn attentively.
Remember that millions saw the apple fall but Newton was the only one that asked why and cared enough to dig for deeper understanding. After the observation period, which should be a minimum of minutes, reconvene as a team and discuss your observations together. Match the wastes with the current-state value stream process map and add new problems that were identified.
Compare the actual observations with what is supposed to happen per work instruction procedures or policy. Discuss the results of the waste walk and identify system-level problems that frustrate your members and impede the process. The most important part of the waste walk are the actions that result from the observations.
Ensure each action has an owner assigned with a deliverable and commit date. Publish a summary to the waste walk team and the employees that operate in the workspace that was observed. Follow-up regularly to see that progress is made, remove barriers, and bring closure to each item. Simple items can be addressed quickly by the area owner, more involved improvements can be put into the funnel for a Kaizen event.
Not every problem will be solved, but inform your team when items are dropped due to business or technical reasons. Expert Tip: If you seek solutions to problems that need to be fixed, go to Gemba.
If you want to see the work behind the reports, go to Gemba. If you want to show leadership, go to Gemba. Waste walks should follow a routine schedule, but there is no one size fits all solution.
A common approach is to have one waste walk per week. Every week the team lead organizes the waste walk with their members focusing on a different process. The supervisor also attends one waste walk per week, but rotates around between their various teams so they may come back to the same team lead once per month. The same pattern is applied to managers and executives. Everyone completes a waste walk each week and they rotate around their areas of ownership.
Managers over 8 teams would complete a rotation once every two months and executives may visit each department twice per year. The number one reason Lean waste walk efforts fail is a lack of commitment from senior leadership. The second biggest reason waste walk efforts fail is lack of follow-up after the waste walk. Making the observations is the easy part, the heavy lifting to improve the process remains to be done and requires commitment of time and resources.
It is easy for everyone to continue to do what has always been done. The default will always prevail unless there is targeted change. Waste walks will fail if they are approached as a one-off event. Waste Sorting Confirm if the following are done:. Execute audit by separating waste by waste stream. If the trash is already in a bag or bin, consider not dumping that bag or bin. Completion Provide recommendations and action plans.
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