Waste in your business processes is one of the greatest drags on the profitability of your company. Your goal should be to constantly review your processes to eliminate waste and the excess expenses that go along with waste. The third type of waste is transporting. Transporting generally involves the internal and external movement of people, goods, and information workflow. In the product realm, transporting generally involves moving people, goods, or information workflow in the manufacturing or distribution process. In the service realm, transporting generally involves moving people, goods, or information workflow in the service process.

The following are types of transporting in the product and distribution realm.

1.      Excessive materials handling. This results in excess costs due to the repeated movement of materials and the tying up of resources in the manufacturing process.

2.      Moving materials between processes. Long movement requirements between steps in the manufacturing process delays the start of the next step and reduces the efficiency of labor.

3.      Having too many suppliers too far away. This results in additional freight costs to move inventory from the supplier to the manufacturer or producer.

4.      Inefficient layout of the manufacturing or distribution systems. This results in additional costs due to the transport of goods between steps in a process.

5.      Multiple deliveries of the same order to the same customer. This results in additional freight costs to procure multiple deliveries of the same order.

The following are types of transporting in the service realm.

1.      Moving service providers to client locations. This results in otherwise productive time spent on non-revenue producing travel.

2.      Inefficient office layout. This results in otherwise productive time spent moving people or information forward in the service delivery process.

3.      Transport of paper files between offices. This results in delays in the eventual completion of the service delivery process and wasted time spent preparing the files for transport.

4.      Transport of staff between offices. This results in otherwise productive time spent traveling between offices.

5.      Moving to interact with other core staff. This results in otherwise productive time spent moving to talk with another member of the service engagement team.

Transporting people, goods, or information between steps in a process will raise the cost of providing your product or service. So, you should seek to decrease the amount of transport cost in your processes. If you need help reducing your transport costs, please call me at 860-524-4443 or email at bkerrigan@wadvising.com.