Motion Waste in Manufacturing: Quantify It. Eliminate It.
Motion waste is one of the 8 wastes of lean manufacturing. It is defined as any movement of people, equipment or materials that does not add value to the product or process.
It is also one of the most underquantified wastes on the factory floor.
Operators leave their workstation to retrieve parts. They search for tools. They walk to replenish consumables stored away from the point of use. Each movement takes seconds. Across shifts, operators and working days, it accumulates into a number most CI teams have never actually calculated.
This tool does that calculation for you.
Waste Calculator
Assumptions used in this estimate:
• 8 hour shift
• 240 working days per year
• constant walking frequency across the shift
That figure represents non-value-added time. Labour cost with zero output attached.
In lean terms, this is Muda – pure WASTE. The root cause is almost always the same: materials, tools or consumables stored away from the point of use, forcing operators to leave the value-adding task to retrieve them.
This applies across every area of a manufacturing facility – assembly cells, kitting areas, packaging stations, inspection points, lineside supermarkets and material supply routes.
The countermeasure is point-of-use design. Bring the material to the operator. Eliminate the movement entirely.
Point of Use Design: The Fastest Lean Countermeasure for Motion Waste
Point-of-use design is the most immediate intervention available to most lean and OpEx teams. No process redesign. No capital programme. In most cases, no production disruption.
By positioning materials, components, tools and consumables at the operator’s reach zone – using flow racks, supply trolleys, modular lineside storage or supermarket layouts – the motion is eliminated at the source.
The result is immediate. Operators stay in flow. Cycle time drops. Throughput increases within the same shift.
ATC designs and builds point-of-use solutions for manufacturing facilities across Ireland. Assembly cells, kitting areas, packaging lines, inspection stations, water spider routes and supermarket layouts.
Use the ATC Design Configurator to start designing your layout now.
Or speak directly with our engineering team.
Frequent Questions
Motion waste refers to any unnecessary movement of people, equipment, or materials that does not add value to the product or process. It is one of the 8 wastes in lean manufacturing and often goes unquantified on the factory floor.
The calculator estimates the total hours and costs lost due to non-value-added movements, such as operators retrieving parts or tools, enabling teams to quantify and address motion waste effectively.
Point-of-use design involves positioning materials, tools, and consumables close to the operator to eliminate unnecessary movement, resulting in immediate improvements in flow, cycle time, and throughput.
Reducing motion waste improves efficiency by decreasing unnecessary movements, saving time and costs, and increasing overall productivity and flow within the manufacturing process.
Common methods include implementing point-of-use storage solutions, flow racks, supply trolleys, and layout redesigns that bring materials and tools directly to the operator's reach.
Addressing motion waste leads to shorter cycle times, higher throughput, reduced labor costs, and more streamlined, efficient manufacturing operations.
Both are among the 8 wastes of lean manufacturing, and they are often confused.
Motion waste refers to the unnecessary movement of people - operators walking to collect parts, reaching for tools, or searching for materials that are not at the point of use.
Transportation waste refers to the unnecessary movement of materials or products through the facility - moving components between workstations, shifting WIP across the floor, or routing goods through unnecessary handling steps.
The distinction matters because the countermeasures are different. Motion waste is solved through point-of-use design. Transportation waste is solved through facility layout and material flow redesign.
Both.
You can use the online Design Configurator to create your own layout independently. Or you can engage the ATC engineering team directly - we will design the solution around your process, manufacture it in our Shannon facility, and install it in your production environment.
Most projects move from brief to installation within a matter of weeks.
