3 Surprising Sources of Waste in Your Supply Chain

Waste. It’s something every business creates, but few know how to reduce. For many manufacturers, a surprising source of waste is found in the supply chain. For others, it’s found in a number of different places. No matter the cause of your waste, it is important to understand where it’s coming from. Why? Because understanding where your business produces the most waste is the first step to finding ways to reduce it.

Do you ever get the feeling that your business might be spending more time, energy, or money on waste management than it should be? If so, let us help you find a solution to your waste management concerns. To start, we recommend evaluating your supply chain. It’s filled with surprising sources of waste.  

1. Raw Materials

You should evaluate your processes from the very beginning, before you every start production on a supply chain. Why? Because your raw materials might be a source of waste. One way to reduce waste in the supply chain is to take a second look at your raw materials. Do your raw materials have excess packaging or unusable components? Can you use a less wasteful alternative? How do you use excess raw materials? If they’re thrown out, what can you do to reduce that amount?  Every production process should work to minimize the waste associated with raw materials.  Whether you reduce, reuse, or recycle materials, there are ways to minimize your supply chain waste by evaluating your raw materials.

2. Inventory Control

Just like managing the input of raw materials into your supply chain can reduce waste, evaluating the output of your supply chain can, too. Overproduction in your supply chain produces excess waste. This is especially true if extra products are abandoned, unused on a shelf in a warehouse. Overproduction has the potential to cause wasted materials and final products. But, it also wastes money and resources that are required to store, maintain, or get rid of unnecessary inventory. Having too much inventory on hand often ties up valuable resources and creates wasteful processing tasks.

3. Defects and Quality Control

It goes without saying that one goal for manufacturers is watching the perfect product roll off the assembly line every time. In reality, however, this is rarely the case. Defective products that don’t pass quality control inspections happen. But, don’t overlook defective products. They are an oft-forgotten source of waste in the supply chain. Ensure that you keep the goal of minimizing defective products on your supply chain in mind. Improved quality control will reduce waste every time.

KenBay Can Help You Manage Supply Chain Was

We know waste management can be a burden. But, it doesn’t have to be! With our help you can evaluate your supply chain for hidden sources of waste and implement technology to reduce it. Because our trash compactors will reduce the weight and size of your waste, they are a great way to cut down your waste removal costs and improve the efficiency of waste management.

Trash compactors like KenBay’s RotoPac are ideal for industrial settings, and allow companies to reduce the volume of their trash at a ratio of six to one. The RotoPac can handle all kinds of waste from food to recyclables, and even solid hazardous waste.

Don’t let something like a waste get in the way of your business operations.  If you’re interested in trash compactors or finding a committed consultant to help you reduce your waste, call KenBay. We can tell you more about our services, no matter what industry you’re in, or how much waste you create!

Photo credit: Getty Images / Paul Bradbury