How lean and safe thinking cuts costs

A prospective client asked about the ROI of using lean and safe thinking to build an organizational culture where safety is a value and elimination of waste is part of the company’s DNA.

This is a tough question, as the tools and thinking are different than many processes that allow you to project an ROI ahead of time. What sets lean and safe thinking apart is the granularity of how you see things. Here, seconds count.

Let’s assume we have a two-shift operation with 20 workers on each shift. Each worker produces 400 parts per shift. During a 5S (a lean tool that has 5 steps to identify and eliminate waste), a team finds that workers lose one second and exert extra effort each cycle while reaching for a tool. The team decides to rehang tools for easier accessibility – and save a second in the process. It was also noted that the reach for shorter workers was such that it could lead to an ergonomic injury. The easier reach significantly reduced the ergonomic stressor.

Big deal – right? Well, it is a big deal both for worker health as well as productivity. Here’s why:

• 1 second of wasted time to reach for the tool X 400 = 400 sec = 6.66 min wasted / worker / shift
• 20 workers / shift X 6.66 minutes = 133.2 total minutes wasted per shift
• 2 shifts X 133.2 minutes / shift = 266.4 minutes wasted per day
• 250 working days / year X 266.4 minutes / day = 66,600 minutes wasted per year
• 66,600 min / 60 = 1110 hours wasted per year

Let’s assume the workers make $15 / hour. One second of wasted time cost the company $16,650 in one year – all for one wasted second that benefits no one.

Help your workers, help your company – and ultimately help your customers when you can produce things faster, better, cheaper – and safer.