ABSTRACT

The identification and elimination of waste from all work processes is a key concept of Lean thinking. However, there are some challenges to seeing waste in office and service environments. Often waste is created and then disappears in very short timeframes, and doesn’t always leave physical evidence of its existence. In other words, it tends to be less tangible. For example, a service quality issue might be resolved relatively quickly, giving people the impression that there is little or no defect or correction waste. We have learned, though, that it takes much practice to develop “eyes for waste.” Value stream mapping, with its icons and data, will help greatly here, as we’ll show in subsequent chapters.