Types of Waste
Waste is highly recognized as anything that, from the perspective of the consumer, adds cost to a product or even service but does not add value in any way. As far as the Amazon’s healthcare is concerned, there are three types of wastes that to a great extent contribute to wastage in the area of ‘product deliveries,’ that the management ought to consider. They include the following;
- Overproduction
- Unnecessary inventory
- Excessive transportation
Overproduction is experienced when it occurs that the number of items produced is higher than the demand for the product. Such an occurrence ends up wasting both time as well as materials. However, it is proper to remember that there are a couple of things that Amazon can consider in overcoming and eliminating this kind of waste. For instance, the organization needs to produce to its takt time. This is to imply that it would be necessary for Amazon to produce or, in other words, take one part or product as the means to meet the consumer requirements. With this, it would be easy to discover the rate at which each process ought to be processing, something that aids in synchronizing the pace of the whole production (Myerson, 2012). Additionally, it would be proper to develop what is termed as continuous flow whenever possible. In this case, continuous flow is identified as producing one piece at a time, with every item being passed from one process step to the next, and this is without any form of stagnation in between. Doing all these ensure that Amazon gains value instead.
On the other hand, unnecessary inventory refers to a situation where there is more inventory than required, something that results in clutter and ultimately costs. One thing Amazon can consider as the means to deal with this issue is to trade with industry partners. It would be proper for the company to realize that its competitors might be its friends, especially when it comes to sharing inventory as well as supplies. It is to imply that what is taking space and making things hard for customers could be exactly what another organization requires right now. It is an interaction that helps to eliminate the waste hence adding value. Additionally, it would be proper for Amazon to liquidate excess inventory, whereby the main goal is to get rid of it. At this point, the liquidator will purchase up what the company has for a negotiated price (Guide Jr, 2000). Such an approach will play a tremendous role in ensuring that Amazon overcomes this type of waste and then gain value instead.
The other type of waste is what is identified as excessive transportation. Whenever Amazon gets involved in excessive transportation, the organization ends up wasting a lot of time, and the work-in-progress materials also take longer to finalize. It is something that is usually experienced when materials are moved unnecessarily. Eliminating this type of waste would require Amazon to consider what is identified as value stream mapping, which is a useful technique when it comes to determining the waste of transport. As such, it becomes proper to ensure that all parts of a process, including transportation, are properly documented as well as aligned to value for the consumer (Esper, & Williams, 2003). This is to say that any activity that cannot be linked to value is, to a great extent, targeted for reduction or even elimination.