AACE INTERNATIONAL PERFORMANCE AND PRODUCTIVITY MANAGEMENT
engineer, and contractor staffs;
• late materials or installed equipment deliveries;
• materials and equipment for installation do not meet
specifications or have fabrication errors;
• materials and equipment allowed to deteriorate in stor-
age so as to not be usable;
• materials and equipment listed on warehouse inventory
cannot be found;
• failure to pick up all needed materials the first time;
• excessive distances between work areas and tool rooms,
warehouses, and laydown areas;
• wrong or defective tools issued;
• waiting for support equipment (e.g., crane);
• waiting for an approval to do something;
• lack of information or waiting for instructions;
• issuing instructions after work has started;
• waiting for other crews to get out of way;
• individuals don't understand their roles or responsibili-
ties—must always ask questions;
• limited availability of a critical skill that must be shared
among crews (e.g., competent person required by OSHA
for certain operations);
• late starts/early quits;
• absentees—work must be reorganized;
• discipline problems;
• permits (such as hot work permits) not available;
• daily renewal of permits;
• conflicts with operating plant personnel on revamp
work;
• operating personnel, having not been consulted during
development of the project, make changes on the fly;
• changes are issued—both formal and constructive;
• unexpected conditions require work reorganization;
• waiting for access or removal of lockouts;
• over-inspections;
• outdated policies or procedures that must be interpreted
to fit current needs;
• work is started before being fully planned and without
all resources needed;
• safety incidents; and
• construction mistakes.
Many actions can be taken to eliminate or minimize the time-
wasters listed above. For many, the nature of the problem
makes the solution obvious. However, to provide several
ideas with respect to one major time waster, consider the
problem of meetings—too many, too big, too unstructured.
Following are some ideas that have worked for others to cor-
rect the situation.
• Prepare and implement a written policy/procedure for
conduct of meetings.
• Train meeting sponsors on the policy.
• Prepare and work from an agenda for all meetings.
Establish a limit of time and start promptly.
• Prepare minutes of meetings to include all decisions
17.5
made, items remaining open, and actions assigned to
individuals (with target dates for completion).
• As an occasional attention-getter, require meeting spon-
sors to prepare a timesheet for each meeting that lists
individuals attending, time spent, and their hourly
billing rates (wages + fringes). The sponsor must extend
and total the cost figures and submit the summary to
his/her supervisor. This makes meeting sponsors think
twice about scheduling questionable meetings, encour-
ages them to better plan the meeting, and forces them to
think in terms of benefits and costs.
• For any individual late to a meeting, fine them $5 and
put it in the coffee or flower fund.
• Arrange the tables and chairs with respect to the
entrance so that a latecomer cannot “sneak in.” He/she
must walk by the chairman and everyone else so that
he/she will be totally embarrassed.
• Schedule meetings at beginning of day, just before lunch,
just after lunch, or just before quitting time. Scheduling
them in the middle of the work day creates a major inter-
ruption.
Waste Through Rework
Rework is a special form of waste. One tends to apply the
term only to redoing work because the work is flawed or
changed. But, one will find countless other forms of rework
going on within organizations every day when you use the
more general definition of rework: the repeating of an activ-
ity (and consequent expenditure of resources) with no value
added to the final output. Because activity during rework
usually looks the same as when work is done the first time, it
is easily overlooked as an area of waste with tremendous
potential for reducing costs. Following are common exam-
ples of rework in an organization.
• Marketing rework: Constantly looking for new work
because the organization cannot attract significant repeat
business.
• Management/Supervision Layering—Maintaining exces-
sive levels of supervision—a higher level essentially
repeats the work of the lower level.
• Materials Management—Double (or more) handling of
materials before use.
• Reorganizations—Reconfiguring an organization with
no significant change in missions or workload.
• Physical Relocations—Moving personnel and equipment
to accommodate a new organizational structure or other-
wise.
• Lack of Electronic Data Links—Receiving data in hard
copy and reentering it into another computer system
instead of electronically linking computer systems.
• Computer Illiteracy—A manager or other professional
staff member who is computer averse still does every-
thing long-hand and turns it over to a clerk for entry into
a computer.
• Excessive Administrative Review—Requiring excessive