NEHP Blog

WHAT ARE THE EFFECTS OF INVENTORY WASTE IN CONSTRUCTION?

Inventory waste, also known as excess inventory or overproduction, is one of the eight wastes commonly identified in Lean Construction principles. It refers to the accumulation of materials, components, or finished products beyond what is immediately needed for the construction project. This excess inventory ties up capital, occupies valuable space, and can lead to various inefficiencies and problems within the construction process.

Below, we take a closer look at 8 consequences of inventory waste within the context of Lean Construction:

Transportation Waste in Construction

Transportation waste in Lean construction is defined as the unnecessary or inefficient movement of any materials, inventory, supplies or personnel related to a construction project.

In determining what is necessary versus wasteful transportation, it's important to identify whether the associated time, resources and energy that goes into a specified transportation activity are actually necessary to improve the final product or outcome.

Anything that is not necessary for improvement is seen as waste.

What is Non-Utilized Talent?

Non-Utilized Talent is a key waste described in the lean construction ideology. It is a waste that is often hidden behind more tangible ones such as defects, time and transportation. This waste pertains to the loss or incomplete use of human capability and resources within a production process.

Tips for Identifying and Managing Waiting Lean Waste

We spend an unfortunate amount of time in our lives waiting. Some calculate this to be as much as 20% to 40% of our daily activities. Waiting at work, or at home, often amounts to nothing more than unproductive time, wasted time. 

In the 8 wastes of lean, waiting waste can be attributed to inactivity or working slowly in a process, delays stemming from failure to complete a previous process or wasted time waiting for the next step in a process to begin.

OverComing Overproduction

Overproduction is defined as any type of production that is more than needed or before it's needed. It can result in excess inventory and it consumes time, effort, money, materials and resources that could have otherwise been spent more effectively elsewhere.

With regard to construction productivity, modular off-site fabrication can help combat overproduction waste on large-scale process utility projects.

9 Actions To Combat Defect-Driven Lean Waste

At the end of our value stream mapping series, we explored the concept of VSM as a mechanism for continuous improvement. The idea is that construction firms can utilize value stream mapping to continuously improve, identify, prevent, and eliminate the 8 wastes of Lean from impacting the productivity of their organization.

To that end, it pays to take a closer look at what constitutes the 8 wastes of lean and how each lean waste can disrupt a company or construction program.

Let's begin with Defects!