Lean basics: seeing the eight wastes
Recognize the eight common types of waste in any process, measure how much of the time is actually adding value, and pick a sensible first improvement.
- Level
- Beginner
- Length
- About 40 minutes
- Contents
- 3 lessons · 2 videos · final exam
- Status
- Published · updated 1 Oct 2026
Skills you'll practise
- Name and recognize the eight common types of waste in office, warehouse, field and production work
- Separate value-adding steps from non-value-adding steps and waiting in a simple process map
- Calculate the share of lead time that adds value
- Choose a first improvement that removes waste without moving the problem elsewhere
Course outline
- 1.Continuous improvement basicsVideo · 2 min
- 2.Seeing the eight wastesVideo · 2 min
- 3.What 'waste' means in leanLesson · 14 min
- 4.Finding and removing wasteLesson · 14 min
- 5.Flow, batch size and work in progressLesson · 15 min
- 6.Lean basics: seeing the eight wastes: knowledge checkKnowledge check · 20 questions
- 7.Lean basics: seeing the eight wastes: practical exerciseKnowledge check · 1 question
- 8.The slow parts counterScenario
- 9.Final exam8 questions · passing it completes the course, so people who already know the material can test out
Sources it draws on
The lessons and questions are written from these references, so learners can go back to the original.
- General lean practice (the eight wastes, value-adding vs. non-value-adding time)
- Your site's continuous-improvement or suggestion process
See it with your own jobs and topics
Tell us about your team and we'll walk you through setup, from choosing jobs to your first skills check.