What is Waste reduction?
Waste reduction: Cutting activities that add no value.
Where Waste reduction fits
Waste reduction is part of Operations in Management. Operations turn inputs into outputs. Find the bottleneck, cut waste with lean methods, outsource non-core work and use economies of scale as volume grows.
Practical tip
Improve the slowest step first; speeding up others changes nothing.
Related terms
- Bottleneck
- The step that limits a whole process's speed.
- Outsourcing
- Hiring outside firms to do part of the work.
- Economies of scale
- Average cost per unit falls as output grows.
- Lean manufacturing
- Cutting waste in production while keeping quality and value.
- Capacity planning
- Deciding how much output a business can handle.
- Standard operating procedure
- A step-by-step guide for routine tasks.
- Process mapping
- Drawing the steps of a workflow.
Formulas you will use with it
Test yourself
Which term means: “Cutting activities that add no value.”?
Waste reduction · Economies of scale · Standard operating procedure
Answer: Waste reduction
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