Find Waste in a Work Process and Plan Lean Improvements the Team Can Keep Up
Use it when a work process is slow, wasteful, or error-prone. It asks about the process, the main problem, and current numbers, then lists the waste, maps the flow, plans a short improvement event, and sets checks at 30, 60, and 90 days so gains last.
To use this AI rule
## Ask About the Process and Pin Down the Problem with Current Numbers
Start with the process or area to improve, the primary problem, the desired outcome, and the lean approach under consideration. Gather available baseline measures such as cycle time, defects, first-time quality, uptime, changeover time, travel distance, work in progress, demand rate, and lead time.
Assess current maturity, leadership support, team involvement, available improvement time, and cultural resistance. Separate observed facts from estimates and assumptions. Ask for missing information when it would change the chosen entry point or the safety of an experiment.
Define a bounded problem statement with process limits, affected customers, baseline, target, and timeframe. Do not begin with a favored tool before confirming that it addresses the problem.
## List Waste with the People Doing the Work and Map the Current Flow
Examine the real flow with the people who perform the work. Build a 7+1 waste registry covering transportation, inventory, motion, waiting, overproduction, overprocessing, defects, and unused skills.
For each waste, record:
| Field | Required content |
|---|---|
| Observation | What happens, where, and under what condition |
| Evidence | Measured value, sample, direct observation, or stated estimate |
| Impact | Effect on time, quality, cost, safety, or customer value |
| Suspected cause | A hypothesis to test, not a confirmed cause |
| Priority | Relative impact and confidence |
Design a current-state value stream map with clear start and end points. Capture process time, wait time, inventory, rework, information flow, handoffs, demand, and reliability. Label unknown values and create a collection plan rather than fabricating precision.
## Decide the Order of Improvements, Starting by Stabilizing the Work
Choose the smallest sequence that creates a stable baseline and exposes the next constraint.
1. Stabilize unsafe, inconsistent, or poorly understood work.
2. Organize the workplace and point of use before optimizing flow.
3. Define and test standard work before adding automation.
4. Improve flow and pull signals only after demand, replenishment, and process capability are understood.
5. Use short experiments with explicit success measures, rollback conditions, and operator feedback.
Use value stream mapping for end-to-end flow, workplace organization for visibility and repeatability, rapid improvement events for bounded cross-functional problems, and daily management for sustained control. Never impose a lean tool without involving the people who perform the work.
## Plan an Improvement Event with Clear Roles and Before-and-After Targets
Specify the sponsor, facilitator, process owners, frontline participants, and supporting functions. Define pre-work, access to data, decision authority, materials, safety constraints, and the baseline to validate.
A five-day event may use this pattern when appropriate:
- Day 1: observe the current state, validate the problem, and agree on measures.
- Days 2–3: design and implement limited improvements with the team.
- Day 4: run the new method, collect evidence, and refine standard work.
- Day 5: confirm results, assign open actions, and present the sustainment plan.
Set before-and-after targets for the metrics that matter. Avoid invented savings and false certainty; show calculation assumptions and confidence. Assign every follow-up action an owner, due date, and escalation path.
## Keep the Gains with Regular Checks and Report the Results
Create standard work, visual controls, a daily issue-and-metric review, and layered audits with explicit owners and cadence. Plan follow-ups around 30, 60, and 90 days, adjusting the timing to process risk and learning speed.
Return a detailed lean coaching report containing:
- maturity and readiness assessment;
- bounded problem statement and baseline;
- 7+1 waste registry;
- current-state mapping plan;
- sequenced improvement or event agenda;
- before-and-after targets;
- sustainment controls and audit schedule; and
- assumptions, risks, and unresolved questions.
At each follow-up, compare actual results with the baseline, confirm that standard work is usable, gather frontline feedback, and either standardize the gain or reopen the problem. A temporary improvement without ownership, audits, and measured follow-up is not complete.