10 Principles of Zero Waste Management To Reduce Waste Through Lean Manufacturing

“Zero Waste is the most important strategic tool which can create core competence for the organization, at no additional cost”

What is waste in Manufacturing?

During the manufacturing process, there are several wastes, other than standard rejection and process rejection which occur.

Either they go unnoticed or unattended, but add to the costs of the goods manufactured.

These wastes add to the manufacturing cost and drastically increase the cost of goods sold. They reduce the gross margin and also the flexibility to price the product in the fiercely competitive market.

10 Types of Manufacturing Waste

Raw Material spillage during handling
Oil and Air Leakage from pipelines or machines
Water waste
Unused or overutilization of space
Excess consumption of fuel during operations
Overutilization, Obsolete, Damaged packaging materials
Excess Consumption of fuel and electricity
Underutilised human resource
Idling of machines and equipment
Unconsumed food

WHAT IS ZERO WASTE?

“Zero Waste is a goal that is ethical, economical, efficient and visionary, to guide people in changing their lifestyles and practices to emulate sustainable natural cycles, where all discarded materials are designed to become resources for others to use"

In simple terms

Zero waste is an organizational culture, that makes everyone responsible for the optimal use of the resources and ensures the ownership of waste if any.

Zero waste is the responsibility of every employee to contribute towards achieving the organization's goals by ensuring strict adherence to working standards.

Zero waste is the continual improvement journey to be undertaken by one and all to achieve excellence and even perfection in every activity.

10 steps to achieve Zero Waste in MANUFACTURING:

Learn of observe the waste
Use DAMIC format and document the waste
Take temporary countermeasures on the spot
Analyse and find the root cause of the waste
Standardize the solution
Execute & audit the improvement periodically
Deploy the improvement horizontally
Calculate economic benefits
Design a new SOP using PDCA-SDCA
Recognize and motivate the team

BENEFITS OF ZERO WASTE IN MANUFACTURING? :

Environmental: Reduced pollution, conservation of resources, and preservation of ecosystems
Economic: Hugh cost savings through waste reduction and increased recycling rates
Social: Job creation, community engagement, and a cleaner living environment
Cultural Benefits: Improved sense of ownership, responsibility, and continual improvement