Unclear standards and specifications lead to excessive processing waste. Many employees will do their jobs as well as possible, and they don't always know what really adds value to products or even end uses. Therefore, they usually spend time polishing and making parts that don't need this kind of processing.

Another problem is non-standardized work practice. Unless you have a standardized job, different shifts and different people will have different working methods.

The most common problems are related to design. Designers usually specify tolerances that require precision machining, but in fact, more relaxed tolerances can be produced by greatly reducing costs.

2. How to reduce excessive processing

In order to prevent the waste of excessive processing, some simple steps can be taken to encourage the use of standard operating procedures (SOP) to provide written instructions for all employees as part of the initial 5S implementation.

These standard operating procedures will ensure that the methods of each shift and personnel are standardized and combined with on-the-job training. They are effective methods to improve product quality and ensure the reduction of over-processing. These SOPs, combined with quality standards, also help to clarify specifications and acceptance criteria.

Review the design using techniques such as value engineering and value analysis to identify opportunities to eliminate strict tolerances.

Check your routing. Did you use a simpler and cheaper method?