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  • Thurer-Tomasevic-Stevenson_PPC_2016

    Rights statement: This is an Accepted Manuscript of an article published by Taylor & Francis in Production Planning and Control on 28/11/2016, available online: http://www.tandfonline.com/10.1080/09537287.2016.1264640

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    Available under license: CC BY-NC: Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License

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On the meaning of ‘waste’: review and definition

Research output: Contribution to Journal/MagazineJournal articlepeer-review

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On the meaning of ‘waste’: review and definition. / Thurer, Matthias; Tomasevic, Ivan; Stevenson, Mark.
In: Production Planning and Control, Vol. 28, No. 3, 03.2017, p. 244-255.

Research output: Contribution to Journal/MagazineJournal articlepeer-review

Harvard

Thurer, M, Tomasevic, I & Stevenson, M 2017, 'On the meaning of ‘waste’: review and definition', Production Planning and Control, vol. 28, no. 3, pp. 244-255. https://doi.org/10.1080/09537287.2016.1264640

APA

Thurer, M., Tomasevic, I., & Stevenson, M. (2017). On the meaning of ‘waste’: review and definition. Production Planning and Control, 28(3), 244-255. https://doi.org/10.1080/09537287.2016.1264640

Vancouver

Thurer M, Tomasevic I, Stevenson M. On the meaning of ‘waste’: review and definition. Production Planning and Control. 2017 Mar;28(3):244-255. Epub 2016 Nov 28. doi: 10.1080/09537287.2016.1264640

Author

Thurer, Matthias ; Tomasevic, Ivan ; Stevenson, Mark. / On the meaning of ‘waste’ : review and definition. In: Production Planning and Control. 2017 ; Vol. 28, No. 3. pp. 244-255.

Bibtex

@article{b6f5bf0d2a3b4deb99de0f37bd7beff0,
title = "On the meaning of {\textquoteleft}waste{\textquoteright}: review and definition",
abstract = "Waste reduction is one of the main principles of lean, but it has been taken for granted that we have a common understanding of what waste means. We first present a critical, qualitative discussion that identifies four distinct waste concepts. We then conduct a systematic review of the literature that examines the different uses of these concepts. We find that only the classic concept of the seven wastes and the concept of waste as non-value-adding activity are widely applied. However, both concepts are, at times, not only incompatible but used in a way that leads to open contradiction. A new definition, centred on an efficient, timely transformation process seeks to consolidate the literature. We outline two distinct waste types: (i) obvious waste, to refer to any waste that can be reduced without creating another form of waste; and, (ii) buffer waste, to refer to any waste that cannot be reduced without creating another waste. The paper has important implications for practice. To reduce waste, managers must undertake three interlinked tasks: the elimination of obvious waste; the reduction of variability to transform buffers into obvious waste; and, the balancing of remaining buffers to best achieve performance targets. The paper supports managers in their endeavours to identify waste, which is an important precursor to waste reduction/elimination.",
keywords = "Waste, lean, buffer, systematic literature review",
author = "Matthias Thurer and Ivan Tomasevic and Mark Stevenson",
note = "This is an Accepted Manuscript of an article published by Taylor & Francis in Production Planning and Control on 28/11/2016, available online: http://www.tandfonline.com/10.1080/09537287.2016.1264640",
year = "2017",
month = mar,
doi = "10.1080/09537287.2016.1264640",
language = "English",
volume = "28",
pages = "244--255",
journal = "Production Planning and Control",
issn = "0953-7287",
publisher = "Taylor and Francis Ltd.",
number = "3",

}

RIS

TY - JOUR

T1 - On the meaning of ‘waste’

T2 - review and definition

AU - Thurer, Matthias

AU - Tomasevic, Ivan

AU - Stevenson, Mark

N1 - This is an Accepted Manuscript of an article published by Taylor & Francis in Production Planning and Control on 28/11/2016, available online: http://www.tandfonline.com/10.1080/09537287.2016.1264640

PY - 2017/3

Y1 - 2017/3

N2 - Waste reduction is one of the main principles of lean, but it has been taken for granted that we have a common understanding of what waste means. We first present a critical, qualitative discussion that identifies four distinct waste concepts. We then conduct a systematic review of the literature that examines the different uses of these concepts. We find that only the classic concept of the seven wastes and the concept of waste as non-value-adding activity are widely applied. However, both concepts are, at times, not only incompatible but used in a way that leads to open contradiction. A new definition, centred on an efficient, timely transformation process seeks to consolidate the literature. We outline two distinct waste types: (i) obvious waste, to refer to any waste that can be reduced without creating another form of waste; and, (ii) buffer waste, to refer to any waste that cannot be reduced without creating another waste. The paper has important implications for practice. To reduce waste, managers must undertake three interlinked tasks: the elimination of obvious waste; the reduction of variability to transform buffers into obvious waste; and, the balancing of remaining buffers to best achieve performance targets. The paper supports managers in their endeavours to identify waste, which is an important precursor to waste reduction/elimination.

AB - Waste reduction is one of the main principles of lean, but it has been taken for granted that we have a common understanding of what waste means. We first present a critical, qualitative discussion that identifies four distinct waste concepts. We then conduct a systematic review of the literature that examines the different uses of these concepts. We find that only the classic concept of the seven wastes and the concept of waste as non-value-adding activity are widely applied. However, both concepts are, at times, not only incompatible but used in a way that leads to open contradiction. A new definition, centred on an efficient, timely transformation process seeks to consolidate the literature. We outline two distinct waste types: (i) obvious waste, to refer to any waste that can be reduced without creating another form of waste; and, (ii) buffer waste, to refer to any waste that cannot be reduced without creating another waste. The paper has important implications for practice. To reduce waste, managers must undertake three interlinked tasks: the elimination of obvious waste; the reduction of variability to transform buffers into obvious waste; and, the balancing of remaining buffers to best achieve performance targets. The paper supports managers in their endeavours to identify waste, which is an important precursor to waste reduction/elimination.

KW - Waste

KW - lean

KW - buffer

KW - systematic literature review

U2 - 10.1080/09537287.2016.1264640

DO - 10.1080/09537287.2016.1264640

M3 - Journal article

VL - 28

SP - 244

EP - 255

JO - Production Planning and Control

JF - Production Planning and Control

SN - 0953-7287

IS - 3

ER -