Also known as muda of rework, this form of waste often plagues organizations that are keen on traditional quality programs. In a desire to eliminate defects from the end product, organizations Institute in-process quality checks that route work with defects back for correction.
When rework occurs, it increases overall process time and uses additional labor and materials to create a smaller amount of products or outputs.
Correction, or rework, can occur in any type of process. Manufacturing processes cull out defective parts and products; sometimes materials are reworked for a better outcome and sometimes they are scrapped-also a form of waste. Call centers and digital work queues are famous for rework, as it’s easy to send work back and forth in a digital format. In some cases, rework occurs not because of correction, but simply because departmental or worker responsibilities overlap.
To eliminate rework or correction, organizations must use a twofold approach:
- Find the he root cause of the rework – that which is causing the errors. Is further employee training required? Could a process be changed to make it more mistake proof?
- Create quality steps that reduce rework waste. Can the rework processes be streamlined? Are the KPIs or goal-metrics set at the right level of the process?