Customers, Value, and Waste -- Basic Lean Concepts Part I

The first principle of Lean is to provide value for the customer -- everything else is waste.  So, the question is, for your household, who is your customer?  For me, it is my family and friends.  What is the value I want to deliver?  Safety, health, peace, a nurturing and supportive environment, sustenance, quality time together, and fun!  These values are reflected in our newly developed family purpose statement, which is still in its draft form according to my husband.

Let's think for a moment about the "products" that our household might deliver:  meals, clean clothes, clean diapers (in my case), clean house, communication about schedules, transportation, health support (we're struggling with colds right now), emotional support, time and activities.  Surely there is more, and these probably vary some by household and values.  But hopefully you get the idea.

From a lean perspective, our goal is to deliver these products and the value they provide by doing only the most essential tasks -- everything else is "waste."  What does she mean by "waste," you are probably thinking.  Well, Toyota identified 7 wastes, us westerners added an 8th:

Defects  -- mistakes that cause us to have to redo things
Overproduction -- too much too soon ...hmm maybe the giant jug of mayonnaise for a great deal?
Waiting -- any waiting our customer does represents an opportunity for waste reduction
Non-utilized talent -- this is the 8th waste added by Americans, are we fully utilizing the capacity of others in our household?
Transportation -- moving stuff --up and down the stairs?
Inventory -- stuff, clutter--a whole industry has popped up around decluttering and having too much stuff!
Motion -- excess movement for providing value
Extra-processing -- doing more work or detail than is valued by you or your family.  Hmmm...maybe being a perfectionist when it comes to cleaning?

The idea behind lean is to determine what the value is you provide to your customer and maximize time doing value-adding activities, while eliminating or minimizing time spent on wasteful tasks listed above.

To apply this to your household:

1.  Think about one "product" you provide to your household.  Let's use grocery shopping as an example.

2.  Think about your current process that you use to do your family's shopping.  Do you do a meal plan?  Shopping list?  How do you know what others might want/need?  When do you go?  What happens when you arrive at the store?  What's your process for unloading and putting the groceries away?

3.  Consider some of the wastes that might be in your current or typically grocery shopping routine.  Do you ever forget to get something? (DEFECTS)  Do you have to do a lot of walking back and forth once you get to the store? (MOTION)  Do you buy in larger quantities than you need by shopping at Sam's or Cosco? (INVENTORY)  Do you buy items that it turns out you already had but didn't know it?  (INVENTORY)

4.  Now think about at least one thing you could do to eliminate or minimize one waste.  Maybe make a list if you don't currently.  Organize your list by aisle/area of store.

5.  Try it out!

So, where can you see waste in your household?  Next time, we'll talk about FLOW....(and I don't mean our Aunt ;) )

Welcome to the Lean Home Blog!

Hi Everyone!


So, here's my story.  I work as a trainer in lean healthcare, lean office, and leadership skills at Northwestern Michigan College, in the beautiful Traverse City, Michigan.  I love my job.  My office works directly with companies to provide lean training both off site and in the workplace, I don't train any "college students."  That was a previous life.


I moved to northern Michigan six years ago when I married, my hubby, DH (Dear Hubby, right?).  I now have two boys -- 5 1/2 and 3 1/2 (which is why there are no posts for a year or two!). We are having a ball!  

I have started applying the concepts I train to improve work processes to our home.  For a long time I've thought of writing a book on how to apply lean concepts to the household, and then I figured -- why batch it?  Why not do small pieces in a blog!?  This comment will make more sense when you learn more about lean!  For now, BATCHING = BAD!  


So here we are.  I cannot wait to share some things we've implemented around our house to make things run a little more smoothly and even more than that I cannot wait to hear about what YOU have done to make your family and household more successful.


Welcome to the journey.....


Heather