In Lean terms the Waste of Motion is defined as ‘any unnecessary movement of people, equipment or machinery’.
An example which is often offered is the motion of people to and from pieces of office equipment, for example one central printer. Far better, says Lean theory, to put a small printer on each desk and save the movement.
Motion?
Eliminate Motion – Be Careful what You Wish For
Whilst this is undoubtedly true we need to be very careful before classifying this as waste and trying to eliminate it. It is now a well-known problem that we have eliminated the waste of motion in some offices so successfully that we now have employees wearing devices that remind them to move periodically. We have replaced motion that was slightly unproductive with movement that is necessary to reduce illness and save lives. Not a great success.
The elimination of certain so called wastes that helped to reduce employee movement have been a two-edged sword. When I was but a boy accountant we had wonderful people called tea ladies (yes, they were always ladies). What this meant was that you had a drink mid-morning and mid-afternoon and it was brought to you. This resulted in a huge saving as people were not popping up and down to get drinks all the time and also only had the occasional access to sticky buns. The elimination of one form of movement waste and subsequent reduction in headcount has had unforeseen health and efficiency effects.
I am told by many people, however, that their best ideas come when chatting around the water cooler. If this is true then this is an argument against my tea ladies and an argument for unnecessary motion.
We need to be careful eliminating even unnecessary waste and we need to be vigilant. Well thought through movement of people and equipment can reduce not only the negative effects of something like lifting but can also reduce downtime for machines. A well-designed shop floor or office minimising unnecessary movement is a desirable objective but not if taken to excess.
Lockdown – Help Or Hinderance Eliminating Motion?
The days of most people living within a short walk, bike or bus ride from their place of work disappeared a long time ago. Lockdown showed so many people how much motion is wasted travelling to and from work and to meetings. We eliminated vast quantities of wasted motion by getting people to work from home where possible and almost completely eliminated travel to meetings.
The moment restrictions were lifted the problems started. Many managers found they could not cope unless their staff were actually in sight and in the office. Many workers discovered that despite having spent years complaining about their commute and the necessity of being in the office they actually could not deal with working from home all the time. The elimination of one of the greatest motion wastes has fallen apart after only a few weeks.
Move And Solve
A very good client of mine always used to insist that when I or one of his staff had a problem the trick to solving it was get up from their desk or work bench and go for a walk around the local park. “I don’t want to see anyone stuck at their desk wrestling with a problem” he used to say. “Movement and a change of scenery solves most things” and he was usually right.
In human terms, in many cases we may have gone too far eliminating this waste. Always remember – Effectiveness Not Efficiency is the answer.
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Analogy From The Bee Hive
Bees store sufficient food near to their young in order to minimise the amount of motion when feeding the youngsters. They also send scout bees out to find the best forage to minimise the amount of motion of individuals bees when foraging. Communications within the hive are designed to have motion at an optimal level to maximise the effectiveness of all movement.