66 THETOYOTAWAYFIELDBOOK
Case Example: Consolidate and Conquer the Waste
In this example several operations were working independently to assemble
various models of a product. Each operator had non-value-added activi-
ties in common with all other operations, such as retrieving material from
the storage area, preparing the material for assembly, completing the
shipping documents, and transporting the completed orders to the ship-
ping area. Operators did this for themselves. Standing in the circle and
carefully observing all operations revealed that about 20 percent of each
operator’s total time was consumed by these activities (see Figure 4-3).
Multiply this across all operators and the waste was enormous. This did
not include other non-value-adding activities within the work process.
Utilizing standardized work charts to analyze the work indicated that
these waste activities could be consolidated to one “line support”
operator, who would be able to minimize the waste by performing
those activities collectively, thereby reducing the waste of conveyance.
This meant that one operator was removed from the line to perform
this “consolidated waste,” which was at first resisted by management
(see Figure 4-4). By streamlining these consolidated activities, the time
required for these tasks was reduced. The line support function then
had free time available to perform other duties, such as data collection
and reporting, and problem solving.Material StorageShippingFigure 4-3. Each operator wastes effort getting materials