Transportation is one of the major wastes in a shop floor. It also has a lot of Side Effects. These side effects are more dangerous than the waste itself.

Transportation means moving the product from one location to another location. There is no value addition during this movement.

Side Effects of Transportation:

1. Batch Production: Since the machines/process are at a distance from each other, Continuous Flow / Single Piece Flow is not possible. Now, we need bins / storage systems as we produce in batches and move them. 

2. Material Handling Systems: Since the product is moved in bins, we need to have material handling equipment like Conveyors, Forklifts, trolleys, etc – which are expensive, occupy space and require manpower to operate

3. WIP: Batch Production leads to overproduction resulting in high Work-In-Progress and takes a lot of space.

4. FIFO: When we have a high WIP, following First-In-First-Out is a challenge leads to deterioration of Quality

5. Fire-Fighting: High WIP creates a lot of confusion in the shop floor and this leads to poor productivity, Parts mixup, rejections, etc.

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Do you find Transportation waste & it’s side effects in your shop floor? Share in the comments.

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Cheers,
Ananth