Page 22 - Yellow Belt Six Sigma

Removing Waste

• Removing waste refers to the elimination of non-value adding activities and processes in a

business process. Waste can be defined as any activity that consumes resources but does

not add value to the product or service.

• An example of removing waste in a payroll process is related to the printing and

distribution of paper paychecks. This process can be time-consuming, expensive, and

environmentally unfriendly. To remove waste from this process, Six Sigma tools such as

Lean Six Sigma can be used to identify opportunities for process improvement. One

solution could be to implement direct deposit for employee paychecks, eliminating the

need for paper checks and reducing the time and cost associated with printing and

distributing them.