What is an Example of Process Improvement in the Home?

We talk a lot about minimizing waste, improving processes, and implementing best practices. Lean and five-S have become common words in our collective vocabulary at the office. So here is a fair question to ask yourself: what is an example of process improvement in the home?

The key is to be prepared and to execute your responsibilities with minimal waste and maximum efficiency. That is precisely what Bizmanualz products and services are intended to do for our customers, and the same thinking travels home with you at the end of the day.

What Is Process Improvement at Home?

Process improvement is the disciplined practice of finding a better way to do repeatable work so it takes less effort, costs less time, and produces fewer mistakes. At home it looks less like a factory floor and more like assembling furniture, cooking a meal, or running the weekly errands with a plan. The same lean thinking that trims waste from a business process trims wasted steps, wasted energy, and wasted trips from the tasks you repeat every week. Ask yourself: do the routines around your house actually have a process, or are they ad hoc?

How Can Process Improvement Ideas Be Used At Home?

Everyone at the office is usually on the lookout for improvement opportunities, and we document small improvements as Kaizens. How do you use those same process improvement ideas at home? Start with the tasks you already repeat. The furniture you assemble, the meals you cook, and the errands you run are all processes, and each one rewards a little planning.

Furniture Assembly Process Improvement

Take assembling furniture, for example. A single flat-pack piece can involve several different items to make in a short period of time, and who wouldn’t want to save time and be better prepared to finish a piece of furniture? There are several learning points to bringing process improvement ideas home. When assembling furniture, the work lessons are noted in parentheses.

1. Assemble Furniture at Point of Use

Assemble the furniture as close as possible to where it will finally reside (do not deviate from your goals). Obvious as it sounds, many of us have suffered in the past by having to move large pieces of finished furniture from one side of the room to the other. Assembling it at the point of use will save you unforeseen trouble.

2. Inventory All Parts Before You Start

Make sure you have all the parts before you begin the assembly (plan well before you begin the project). This is a fundamental part of lean thinking and is known as 5-S: sort the needed items. What if you are 70% done and realize that you are missing a cam screw or a specialized screw? It is better to know that in advance so that you are not waiting for replacements to arrive via mail next week. The EPA’s overview of Lean thinking and the 5S method describes this same sort-and-set-in-order discipline that keeps a workspace ready before the work begins.

This is a golden rule for making a dish in the kitchen too. Always organize your recipe ingredients before the start of cooking.

3. Organize Your Tools Before You Start

If any additional tools will save you time, get them (look for tools and methods to increase efficiency). Those Allen wrenches work great, but if you have scores of screws to tighten, an electric drill with the appropriate bit will come in very handy. Then arrange your tools, parts, screws, nuts and bolts close so that you are not wasting time running around to get what you need. Do not be in a position where you are searching for things that might have gone under the packaging or containers. Remember to keep everything close (do not deviate from your plan). This is another fundamental part of lean thinking and 5-S: set in order what you need, in the order you will need them.

Yes, this also works well in the kitchen. Organize the pots, pans, and utensils needed before you start to cook.

4. Read the Instructions

Visualize in your mind what the final piece will look like (use the procedures in place and understand your final state). Do not skip steps. That can mean rework: unscrewing, unfastening, and lots of wasted time and energy. Understand how these steps will lead to the finished product. Do you ever wonder why people don’t follow procedures?

It is the same for cooking. Read the whole recipe before you begin to cook.

5. Look for Improvement

Look for ways to improve (look for continual improvement opportunities). Learn to find improvement opportunities constantly. If you think of a better way to do something, by all means, use that learning.

Is Process Improvement Just Common Sense?

Granted, some of the ideas above might be derived from pure common sense, but as the saying goes, common sense is not always very common. Bringing process improvement ideas home may not be exciting, but bringing ideas from work home is not a bad idea after all. It is all a part of the lean journey and of making your company lean. Practice it at home too. Kaizen, the Japanese practice of continuous, incremental improvement, works exactly the same way at a workbench or a kitchen counter as it does on a production line.

Do you bring home tips and process improvement ideas from work? The habits that make a business efficient, sorting what you need, organizing your tools, following the procedure, and looking for the next small improvement, make a household run smoother too.

Frequently Asked Questions

What Is an Example of Process Improvement in the Home?

Assembling flat-pack furniture is a clear example. Preparing all the parts, organizing your tools, and reading the instructions before you start removes wasted time and rework, exactly the way lean process improvement removes waste at work.

How Does 5-S Apply at Home?

5-S means sorting the items you need and setting them in order before you begin. At home that is inventorying every part before assembly and organizing your pots, pans, and utensils before you cook.

What Is a Kaizen?

A Kaizen is a small, documented improvement. Applied at home, it is any minor change you make to a repeated task, such as assembling furniture at its point of use, that saves time or effort the next time.

Why Should You Read the Instructions First?

Reading the whole set of instructions, or the whole recipe, lets you visualize the finished product and understand your final state. Skipping steps usually means rework: unscrewing, unfastening, and wasted energy.

Can Work Habits Really Improve Home Tasks?

Yes. The same lean thinking that trims waste from a business process trims wasted steps and trips from household tasks. Bringing process improvement ideas home is part of the same lean journey.