Plain and Simple: Bright Business Insights Winter 2019 | Page 2

TOO BIG OR TOO WASTEFUL?
How to Make Better Use of Your Space
Your business continues to grow and now it’s time to consider expanding machines “busy” might make a manager feel better, but it could
your facility. But most contractors in your area are backlogged and the actually hurt the bottom line.
process of planning and building could take more than a year. Now, as
a business owner, you’re faced with a very real problem of figuring out
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Too much inventory. If you’re making more than your demand,
then you have to move it, store it and likely purchase more.
how your business can go on functioning for as long as it’s going to
take to get a crew in to start your expansion. In this scenario, perhaps Ensuring your warehouse is operating with a balanced inventory
the best option is to consider ways to make better use of your current is essential. Problems can occur when too many items take up
space in order to work more effectively. much-needed space, which usually happens when your company
orders a mass amount of product to keep up with demand or when
Re-engineering your floor plan is no easy task – physically or
demand for your product is too low.
conceptually. It’s more than just moving things around to create space
or lining up the machines in a more linear way to promote efficiency.
Your first responsibility is to identify and understand your process
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you could have a problem with defects or poor quality as well as
constraints. If you don’t, you risk making your production issues even
a space issue.
worse because these issues may not actually be space-related at all.
Before shutting down production or moving anything, start by looking
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Signs of waste and inefficiency can show up in many forms – and
Poor organization. Do you routinely send out “search parties”
to locate tools, information or documentation? This ongoing
for the “waste” listed below in your processes.
Identify The Waste
Poor quality. If you are using space to rework parts or reports,
problem can be eliminated with better processes and organization.
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Excessive motion. Moving items from one area to another
(staging, racking, etc.) is par for the course. But if the moves are
they can cost you more than space. Inefficiency can cost you in time,
productivity, internal and external customer satisfaction and money. significant and take up too much time or space, you may have a
Some common symptoms include: problem.
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Overproduction. This is viewed as the deadliest type of waste
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Process variation and complexity. Do you battle with long
because it results in other types of wastes, and it could definitely change-overs that often lead to errors and delays to internal and
be causing those space issues you’re facing. Keeping people and external customers? These issues can reveal waste concerns.