This is what I wish my workshop looked like – clean workbenches, clean floors, and nothing in the way.
Lean manufacturing principles are about reducing waste and improving efficiency.
Ben V has the right idea – shown above is what his workshop looked like after building a couple of modular workbenches and tool cabinets. (You can see what he’s been working on at @dusty.tools on Instagram.)
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Every now and then I’ll hear some “lean manufacturing” tips and techniques, with some applying just as effectively to DIY workshops.
Lean manufacturing suggests that you should buy what you need as you need it.
I have a couple of sheets of baltic birch plywood in my garage, as well as hardwood boards. My material cache doesn’t stop there – I have a couple of small sheets of plastic, bar stock, and more. That’s more than I have immediate need for.
I still have a couple of 4-foot cypress 2x boards that I bought for building raised garden planter boxes.
Oh, I’m glad to have materials available for impromptu projects. The plywood will be used for an upcoming cabinet build, and I bought a few extra sheets to justify the delivery fee from the lumber yard.
I also tend to overbuy for ToolGuyd purposes. Part of the job is trying out new tools, accessories, brands, and so forth, and so it’s regular and habitual for me to buy more than I need.
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But, I also have a tendency to overbuy, especially when I find something on sale. When I do this, some of the surplus sits around until I need it, which can sometimes take a while.
I often have multiple projects at various stages of planning and preparation. Sometimes a project might be delayed, changed, or put on hold for an extended period of time.
I hate having to make multiple trips to the store, and so I might buy extra. Do I need #10 x 1-1/2″ screws, or #8 x 1-1/4″? Sometimes things don’t work out as well in real life as they do on paper. So I tend to have Plan A and B purchase plans.
That mindset can be beneficial, and I am often glad I don’t have to waste money or time placing another order when my Plan A selections don’t work. An extra box of machine screws or other small fasteners will usually cost less than having to pay shipping twice.
Past experiences have also lead me to always ask myself “what if it doesn’t work?” or “what if I need more?” Overbuying can save me time and money.
I bought a couple of IKEA butcher block-type countertops a few years ago, and still have one left, plus a couple of still-usable offcuts. They work great for workbenches, tool stands, and heavy duty tops for cabinets.
IKEA doesn’t offer solid wood butcher block countertops anymore, at least not that I have seen. They changed things up a few times over the years, but seemed to make the permanent change from solid wood to wood veneer countertops.
I have another workbench project in the works, and the extra countertop should work perfectly there. Alternatives do exist, of course, they just cost more money; those IKEA birch (or was it beech?) countertops were a great deal, and delivery fee was the same whether I was buying one or six.
So on one hand, I’m glad to have the cache of materials I’ve accumulated. On the other hand, what about space?
Once I work through my plywood and wood boards, I’m going to try to adhere to a “buy as I need it” policy.
Maybe I can allow for some exceptions; I’m sure there could be a balance between how much I immediately need and how much will be good to keep on-hand.
A lot of my habits come from my buying supplies on sale to save money or overbuying to save money on multiple shipping fees. Sometimes I do similar when concerned about future availability or pricing.
I can only blame some of my lumber excess on recent years’ shortages. That led to a “buy it when I find it” mentality.
I don’t plan to have overstock. Often I roughly plan for how the extra materials will be used, at least in the context of lumber, but sometimes those plans change or are frequently interrupted by other priorities.
I’ve seen others’ workshops and know that I’m not alone in this. Woodworkers, for example, tend to hoard wood and offcuts.
I bought a piece of oak at the lumber yard last year when shopping for maple. It had a great grain pattern, and I knew I could use it for something, but I still haven’t committed it to a particular project yet. I couldn’t pass it up, and have no regrets.
Shifting mindsets isn’t easy.
“Do I need to buy this now? If I wait, can I easily buy it when I need it? Will it cost me substantially less to buy right now?”
There needs to be some margin for error or unexpected circumstances. If I need 40 fasteners, it’s a good idea to buy 50, in case some are defective.
If I need 18 board feed of wood for a project, buying 20 is a good idea (at least), just in case I need a little extra or have to cut around a knot. But do I need a 10 board feet project pack of cherry just because it’s on sale?
Having a full lumber rack, or stack in my case, isn’t a bad thing if you have the space. The same goes for other materials, components, or what-not.
But, I find myself being short on space while also being more capable of paying shipping fees twice if needed.
Being budget conscious occasionally leads me to think “what else should I order now instead of soon or later, to make the most of the shipping fee?” Or, if there’s a discount, I look ahead to what I might not want to spend full price on a few weeks (or months) later.
Sure, that might save me money, but leads to inefficient utilization or storage space.
Let’s say someone is starting to lift weights. Buying a set of dumbbells can cost substantially less than buying them one size at a time. The same goes for wrenches. There’s a point where it’s more cost effective to buy a set than just a couple of sizes.
The “lean manufacturing” way would be to buy just what I need as I need it, plus a little extra where it makes sense.
But lean manufacturing is about reducing or eliminating waste.
If I try to apply lean manufacturing practices, things start to look contradictory. I’m not a manufacturer with well-defined material or part needs. Do I waste a bit of space, or money? They are interdependent – saving space results in higher costs, and saving money results in less storage efficiencies.
Lean is about improvement, and about assessing the state of things to look for opportunities for improvement.
So, it’s not about finding lean manufacturing practices that work for me, but applying the “look for opportunities to reduce waste and improve upon something” philosophy to my specific needs and contexts.
What I think makes sense for me is to keep materials on-hand except when doing so interferes with other needs or activities.
I have a couple of rubber sheets that I use for gaskets, washers, and similar things, and that’s okay. But I think my goal for lumber and plywood should be to only keep on-hand what I might use in an immediate project.
It’s not easy – what if I have trouble finding clean 2x cedar again? Baltic birch can be hard to find in certain sizes now, and so I don’t entirely regret buying extra.
Lean manufacturing doesn’t demand I adhere to certain practices. The goal is to eliminate waste and seek improvement.
All of this came up recently because I ordered a couple of bars of aluminum, plus a heavily discounted 12″ x 36″ sheet that I don’t have concrete plans for yet, and wondered if I was being wasteful. Maybe it’s a little wasteful, but the savings are substantial (I plan to cut it up as needed), and as I can fit it on a shelf or in a corner, it’s relatively easy to store.
A 60″ x 60″ sheet of plywood isn’t as easy to store.
So, my hybrid approach will be to keep a small supply of easily-stored materials on-hand – the same as I’ve been doing for the past 15-18 years or so – and buy plywood and hardwood as-needed, aside for “gotta have that” hardwood boards and a 2x or two as they frequently come in handy.
Are there areas of improvement in your workshop? Work van or truck? Hobby corner?
I think that “lean” finally clicked for me. It’s not about certain practices, but the philosophy of assessing, improving, and repeating until everything is as efficient as can be.
Boyd
A lot of my work recently has been centered around lean principles. The only real truth I’ve found is that you should use what works one only what works.
Try to apply the principles, measure the outcomes and if doesn’t suit, deselect it and try something else.
That, in a nutshell, is what I believe lean truly is.
Dustin
We practice lean manufacturing principals at work and I find that the methodology once it becomes ingrained in you applies to your personal life as well. I know for me I apply 5S and Kaizen principals in my home workshop
Travis
The first question I would ask regarding lean in the home shop is- what is the constraining resource? For many of us space is one, but I would contend that time is even more of a constraint for.most of us- therefore having materials on hand- hopefully thoughtfully organized is very lean indeed .
Stuart
Yep – here, I asked myself what the problem is (too much lumber not of immediate use), and then asked myself *why* (to save money and ensure availability).
The why? part helped me figure out a course forward. As I recoup space, that’ll be the priority over saving money.
TomD
It really depends on how far you are from the sources and when you work; if you normally do your projects in the evening, then missing a key screw or piece of wood may delay you a whole day, as the stores will be closed by the time you get there.
But maybe you work on Saturdays and even if you don’t go all the way into town to get the cheapest, you can run to the local Ace and back in 10 minutes.
One useful metric is to work out what your “square foot” cost is for your workspace; this involves some handwaving but say you decide it costs a dollar a sq ft a year in maintenance, lost use, etc. Now you can determine how much it is costing to store the item(s).
One trick a contractor friend taught me is to overbuy and return. Doing a project and a Home Depot run? Buy more than you think you need, and return the excess when the project is done. This reduces the chance you have to make an emergency run, but also lets Home Depot do the warehousing for you between projects.
Stuart
I source lumber from one of three places.
Hardwood from an online supplier or semi-local lumber yard.
Baltic birch plywood from online supplier that cuts each sheet into shippable sizes, or local supplier that will deliver for a fee.
I go to home centers for as-needed 2x or cheap grade plywood.
If I need maple today, if my lumber yard doesn’t have it, I have to order online and wait. If my lumber yard doesn’t have BB, I have to try online for cut sheets and pay about as much for each board in shipping.
I can’t find good clear cedar locally, so I buy from an online gardening supply shop. They’ve had cypress when they ran out of cedar.
If I buy too little, a reorder can cost a lot, which is wasted money. If I buy too much, I have to store the excess; returns aren’t possible. If I can’t source what I want when I need it, I’m out of luck.
That’s what makes this so difficult. But when I step back, I realized that I can find alternate sources or different materials, pay for a reorder, or wait for availability. What I can’t do is store two things in the same space, and there’s way around that.
Potato
What are your online sources? I’ve used walllumber.com and ocoochhardwoods and very happy with both but always on the lookout for other good suppliers.
Stuart
I like Bell Forest for hardwood – https://www.bellforestproducts.com/ – and have had good experiences with Woodworking Source – https://www.woodworkerssource.com/ – for pre-cut baltic birch.
I also shop local, although selection and availability can vary greatly.
Saulac
Lean changed how I think, work, and live.
I only stock common/multi-use hardware, rare materials (such as slot angle metal, unistrut, HDPE…) and very very few common size of wood (2×4, 4×4, 3/4 ply…most to test out ideas)
Do not think any stocking is against Lean. Toyota have their suppliers set up shop next to their factory. And they do have stock/buffer.
Do try to apply the “as you need” as close and as much as possible. When I had to insulated my old concrete basement floor, I made sure that all 50 sheets of XPS and 100 sheets of 1/2 OSB went directly from my truck to their final destination. I saved so much waste by not buying them ahead and stacking them into piles somewhere.
Kent
Thats a big thing that I think is missed when people try the “Toyota” approach for lean on a smaller scale either at work or at home is Toyota has all of their suppliers right there and can get the materials asap where as anytime I don’t have something that’s an hour trip to the hardware store minimum.
Smokey
I buy on sale all the time and don’t use the stuff for awhile. There’s some waste, but when you’re halfway through a project and “Plan C” has been sitting in the corner of your garage for 2 years, it feels good not having to take an hour out of your project to run to Home Depot and pay full MSRP for the item.
When it comes to tools, I’ll go through a job and realize if I had this specialty tool, it would’ve saved me 45min of struggle. So I add it to my wishlist and will grab it next time I see a good deal or maybe my brother or mom or wife grabs it for me for a holiday or birthday. Same goes for upgrading tools. Lowe’s had some good ones when the holiday shippers went on clearance, I paid like $20 for a 2pk of 10” 40T Spyder saw blades and some stores still have 5pc Wiha screwdriver set (made in Germany) for $11. I also found a mispriced Milwaukee hole saw set with an old tag on it at HD recently and since my old Hole Dozers were getting worn, managed to get a $70 set for the price of one and a half individual hole saws. Buying a power tool alone with the “free tool” or “free battery” promo can save $150+.
Amazon is too convenient sometimes as well. I’ll load up the wishlist with a few different brands of the same product I will need in the future and you can see easily when one of the items drops to “lowest price in 30 days” or some other sale.
At the very least, the money I waste on stuff that will never get used matches the extra money I would spend having to buy everything locally at full MSRP the day I need it.
Arthur
<i?I bought a couple of IKEA butcher block-type countertops a few years ago, and still have one left……
IKEA doesn’t offer solid wood bitcher block countertops anymore, "
THIS is why we buy more than we need, get extras when it’s on sale, etc.
Following Lean Practices would be great if you could trust the manufacturers, distributors and retailers, but all they’re interested in is maximizing profit, however they can achieve it, which leads to discontinuing items, re-designing them to allow making them cheaper or hiring Chinese outfits to make them. Which often makes them incompatible with their previous versions or models, or just generally so crappy they’re worthless.
Scott F
I enjoy lean thinking but I don’t really go for the JIT side of it in my personal life. Kaizen in my day job of number crunching and spreadsheets, and 5S has been very useful to me in home. I like for my garage and home to stay clean/clutter free, and for everything to have defined and well thought out positioning.
In the garage I am still working through that, I tried to be mindful as I set everything up, writing all of the “systems” out on paper and trying to relate what belongs with each other/in which section of the garage. Space constraints led some of my plans to move around, but at least I have a good starting point that I can customize and enhance from here. The kitchen is another area I think lean is really important – it is easy to have too many tools there and to put them all over the place and have to run around from one side of the kitchen to another to get something made. I want my prep station to be next to the stovetop, with easy access to pots/pans/utensils, without everything having to stay out cluttering the counter.
Nathan
Interesting as always
I’ve seen “lean” and it’s variants for a number of years. I still bristle a bit when it’s called Toyota production when it’s development and was documented before toyota. Anyway
I think many of you touched on it but I’d says it’s a perspective. For me I’m not a company and I’m not making things directly to make profit . So for me I’m making a thing I might or might not need. And I’m in the business of making time.
So shift the practices with a perspective of making time. Then buying piece meal and having to run back to the store 4 times is not productive likewise I don’t have a giant shop so most of my wood working stuff has to collapse or move out of the way. If it’s car repair day same thing. I actually work a bit like a flat rate mechanic at a dealer or shop. Why. I’m making time. As a father of 2 under 10 and working.
So I like 5s and to some degree it’s 5s plus 1. I like some lean approaches but as an engineer one thing I keep reminding people is the lean method starts with standard work. Ie when I do a brake job I start with putting together a tool set. That is pretty common. Until a car maker decides to use t40 screws in place of a 13mm hex or ? It’s still mostly the same
Etc. So yes I apply lean I suppose but the perspective is different. As I focus on making time.
Bob Adams
I stock lumber and many kinds of hardware in my shop. It is a 30 minute drive to any big box store. Having parts on hand saves me time every on every job I do.
Automotive, carpentry, plumbing are covered at a basic level. Lots of drill bits, nails, screws, wire nuts, zip ties ect are common sense.
We had a 5-S program at work. I laughed as they threw away material that I loaded into my truck from the dumpster and they ordered replacements the next week. I was glad for the free material.
I told the new manager he would regret doing this but he wouldn’t listen. We find it amusing as projects are late since we keep little stock on hand. This so called lean manufacturing has been a joke for us.
Aaron SD
Seems like they need to add Kanban to ensure enough parts. Also seems they don’t have a good handle on throughout so under-stocking parts. The system works well but also takes good people.
fred
When we acquired our pipe/metal fabrication business and started returning it to profitability – we embraced lean manufacturing and six sigma principles as the way to accomplish our goals. We hired a six sigma blackbelt and embarked on a training program for our employees and management. My partners and I also took training so that the principles might better apply from top to bottom. This and achieving ISO certifications certainly worked for us. The clutter that called “inventory” in our warehouse and factory floor was reduced tremendously.
Thinking back, we were able to do this because of the relationships that were in place and/or we could establish all along the chain of supply straight through to our customers. I can see how this played out in the late 1980’s into the 1990’s – but wonder if it would have been successful had we attempted it in the past 2 years of pandemic when supply chains were strained.
We produced mostly one-off specialty items – but sometimes items that were critical spares for our customers. So, it was a balancing act to understand our customer needs so that we were able to react quickly (have inventory or assured supply) to meet immediate needs for important customers.
For personal use at home, over the years of my life, the landscape has certainly changed. As a boy in the 1940’s my day could certainly not have depended on the local hardware store or lumber yard to be open whenever a need arose. Stores were closed on Sundays and had limited hours all other days. There was nothing equivalent to Amazon with one day shipping. So, he kept and inventory of critical spare parts and hardware (boxes of nails, screws, faucet washers, fuses, light bulbs etc.) speculating on future needs. I grew up with some of that mentality – and my shop still has bins of parts that I will probably never use. But I have gotten better over the years buying supplies for ongoing projects as I need them and in quantities closer to project specifications with less leftover lumber and hardware.
What contradicts all this for me (and I suspect many other tool aficionados) is the number of tools that I keep in my home shops, houses, garages, sheds and cars. Many of my tools collected over nearly 70 years and/or inherited from prior generations may now have limited or no practical use. But I am loathe to part with them on the speculation that they may once again become handy for some job or other.
Ted
Good perspective. Thanks Fred!
Robert
Wood is a bit different in my experience. To my surprise, as I got into it, I found there actually is no such thing as “scrap wood.” There’s just wood you don’t have a purpose for momentarily. I’ve found I need LOTS of scrap pieces for test cuts, or to test a process. Or even extra virgin stock has vital uses, like giving a surrounding platform of the same height for my track saw set up, or non-router table routing. And it doesn’t hurt to let your wood sit around to acclimatize more. And right now, if you see good quality hardwood or exotic woods, if you can afford the current cash flow, get it. The lumber yards seem to be having more trouble getting it. I have to drive 50 miles to get non-aromatic cedar for outside projects.
fred
One of our businesses was a custom cabinet/woodworking shop that occupied most of a square city block. The basement was chock full of old templates, shop-made jigs and leftover wood from years of projects. It remained this way – accumulating more and more each year until we had a visit from our insurance underwriters. Then, despite our fire sprinkler system and proximity to fire hydrants and a professional fire company – we were encouraged (may I say forced) to clean most everything out. Work and life went on just fine and the basement was transformed into recreational space for employee and family use.
Robert
Fred, thanks for the insight from the other direction. Never thought of the insurance aspect. I doubt I’ll get inspected by my insurance company. But maybe if I had a catastrophic claim, the appraiser would find out about my wood pile.
William Adams
Only rich people can afford to have empty space — they can buy anything which they don’t have, whenever they want, and pay for rush shipping.
I squirrel away every usable scrap and piece of hardware — but organization is the key — scraps are sorted by size and I’m trying to standardize on stock sizes/dimensions and set up a system where scraps get cut to standard sizes, hardware goes into organizers, and there’s one box of containers for singles.
Rx9
Good observation. I’ve noticed that often times, the wealthy have meticulously arranged and sparsely decorated homes. It often feels like nobody actually lives there.
I feel like the ideal of lean manufacturing makes sense only in certain cases, where there are stable and well coordinated supply chains in place. For other things, it seems to be a mistake to not have a backup of supplies you are reasonably likely to need in the near future. I keep fasteners and consumables on hand, and not having to waste time shopping makes it worth the effort.
William Adams
Thanks. Probably it would have been more clever to have said:
>Only the rich can afford to have nothing.
Albert
I am short on space and can order online just about everything I need, so I prefer to let the stores do the stocking. Recently I’ve been building workbenches using southern yellow pine. Home Depot delivered and unloaded 4′ lengths for a mere $9. Not the greatest quality or lowest price, but it was nice that the quantity I needed magically appeared on my driveway, and more is just a few clicks away.
MtnRanch
If you don’t buy tools before you need them, how can you expect to end up with more tools than your brother-in-law and/or neighbor? 🙂
Steve
This was going to be my point as well. Does lean apply to hand and power tools? I have way more than I need at any one time, but there are one off cases I can justify for many of my tools.
For supplies, I find organization is key. I’ve labeled all boxes, drawers and cases so I know where everything is and keep all plumbing “stuff” in one area and electrical “stuff” in another. Paint and drywall has it’s own cabinet and there are a few others. This has helped tremendously.
Since the variety of tasks I do vary so widely, I’m not sure lean really applies. Saving time to get more done is vastly more important as my list is neverending. Having some extra wood or hardware is nit a concern as it all gets used and I purge every 6 months or so, to ensure I’m maximizing my space.
If we were manufacturing cabinets or some other repeated process, then lean makes a lot of sense. Just my 2 cents…
Stuart
It could apply to tools.
If one buys what they anticipate needing, and have a place for it, that can still be lean as it avoids wasted time and frustrations.
Lean doesn’t have to mean only buying the exact sizes you need when you first need them.
Steve
Would lean mean more rental tools though? Instead of making that one off purchase, many auto stores and other places have tool loan/rental programs. And there is always a neighbor. There are some things we could all probably do to be more lean, but in general; I just think this is more of a manufacturing idea than something practical for DIY’ers. Space, time, organization, efficiency and costs are all higher priorities than being lean; at least for me…
Stuart
If that’s what provides efficiency improvements for you, yes. If not, no.
That’s my point – I realized that there’s no copy and paste set of rules.
Paul C
Lean MANUFACTURING principles are SOMEWHAT relevant. In other areas, it’s a good idea, up to a point. I’ll explain it like this. Most maintenance people are exactly like cats. Ever owned a cat? Did your cat ever bring you presents such as a dead bird or mouse? Did you react the same way as most people…get it out of here cat. I don’t want/need it. It’s disgusting. If the cat could talk it would say, “but I brought you FOOD. You should love me. See right here there’s a tiny bit of meat on this cheek and if you gnaw on it just right you can get a great taste. Never mind half a front high I left you and I already pre-tenderized it with my saliva. Maintenance people often return with broken, bent bolts, stripped nuts, half pieces and parts of things, and all kinds of outright rusted up junk. I get the same thing…hey we might be able to rob some of the screws off that thing or use the little parts on it to fix another make/model/manufacturer’s thing. Remember 5 years ago when we were lucky enough to save something from the trash that we used parts from instead of taking a trip to the hardware store in town? And the more that management thinks that maintenance is simply an expensive afterthought and patching and modifying become standard practice to where buying even cheap parts that cost nothing compared to the labor of repairing something becomes ingrained, the worse it gets.
Lean usually has two big fallacies. The first is ASSUMING that acquisition costs and time are zero or not relevant. The idea is that storage and maintenance of something you aren’t even getting value from has a cost, whether it’s building all that storage or taking the time to go through it or not having something else that you actually need because you have no place to put it. The fallacy here is that Lean principles means that you TOTALLY IGNORE these actual and very real costs, and just ASSUME that they are irrelevant. So it’s basically the opposite of the cat (or pack rat) philosophy….just throw away everything you don’t need right here, right now, and figure that the extra cost you pay buying items constantly on the spot and not storing everything is less than the alternative.
LEAN has gotten to the point where quite infamously automotive plants were demanding that their vendors supply the exact parts at the exact time and place (within an hour or two) at their plant. So they reduced in-plant inventory to zero and life was good, right? Well not so fast. What really happened is that vendors built their own warehouses and raised shipping costs tremendously as they had tractor-trailer fleets sitting with “live inventory” right outside the plant gates, waiting to delivery “just in time”.
Prior to today’s time period companies would practice something called Operations Research. Basically post WWII the DoD and others developed detailed mathematical models for things like this. Those models can tell you exactly how much inventory you actually need, the bare minimum. The fundamental problem with the basic model is that like Lean, it ALSO ignores all those other costs aka details that matter more than a business buzz word. We can extend the models with those costs and then solve the new problem but it eventually turns into the knapsack problem…given a container and a bunch of items of various shapes and sizes, what is the optimal (perfect) combination of those materials to fill the container? It is what is known as an NP-complete problem in computer science…a problem so inherently difficult that the best answer is often to just try every combination. Of course even those types of problems have strategies but ultimately the key takeaway here is that the problems that Lean claims to solve are not nearly as simple as they make it sound, and that the “perfect” solution is not a one-size fits all answer.
Stuart
What I finally realized, after rejecting lean principles as never working for me, is that the philosophy is sound and doesn’t require applying the same solutions regardless of context.
Lean is about reducing waste and improving efficiency, but doesn’t dictate how it’s done.
Moving to “buy as I need it” for a lot of things would be devastating to both my spontaneous capabilities and budget. Moving to “buy as I need it” for sheet goods will deliver substantial space savings.
Rx9
Good post. You articulate a lot of the hidden costs that lean manufacturing advocates often fail to account for. I think that for some industries, the concept still holds merit, but there are too many places where it has been inappropriately applied.
Paul C
A more interesting angle to Lean and this is something that machine shops often practice anyway is make it as needed. I’ll give you an example. So I’m a service contractor. Often I get calls to some emergency somewhere that I’m expected to pull off some miracle. So in my van I have 35 mm DIN rail strips, some sheet metal, modular terminal blocks, modular relays and relay bases, PLC cards, power supplies, modular motor starters (smaller sizes), fuses, breakers, and disconnects, and spools of wire. When I say modular I mean that I can literally just pop on an entire row of say a dozen terminal blocks on a DIN rail (no tools needed) and then insert a jumper strip that ties all 12 together, giving me a giant 24-position terminal block for power distribution. Similarly I can start with two contactors, add a mechanical interlock and a couple special jumper strips to the top and bottom, and finally drop an adapter and a manual motor starter on top to assemble a complete reversing motor starter out of a tiny handful of parts that we used to spend hundreds to thousands of dollars buying and installing (combination starters). The electrical world is changing to be smaller, cheaper, and more modular. The postings on here about DIY CNC is just an example. CNC used to be something that only those with effectively unlimited budgets could afford. Interestingly enough there’s a plaque on a building in Traverse City, Michigan, documenting that CNC was invented at Cone Drive in the 1960’s. They didn’t actually switch over to CNC themselves though until the turn of the century!!
Keep in mind though that there is some relevance here. Ever had t throw away a “new” part because it was so rusted, dry rotted, or otherwise damaged that you couldn’t use it? Do you turn the shafting on your motors, pumps, etc., every quarter to prevent flat spots in the bearings and redistribute the grease? Did you know that any electronics containing capacitors may have to be “reformed” or risk the capacitors exploding on startup, “fresh” out of the box after it has sat for a significant period of time? To say nothing of warehouses where the pigeon dung covers everything and it becomes a health hazard, or where refusing to spend money on roof maintenance results in tens of thousands of dollars of inventory destroyed. Trust me, NO PLANT does a decent job of inventory management. Even the undisputed warehouse kings (Amazon, Walmart) still suck at this. But is the solution to simply stop even trying to do inventory management?
Often I can build/modify and entire small control system just from parts on the van. Now obviously this screams the opposite of Lean. But out of everything I just described, only a small handful of them can be had at nearby automotive stores, hardware stores, “big box” stores, and feed and seeds (depending on how far out in the boonies I am). The days of buying controls parts at the local “Radio Shack” are long gone and you are more likely to find a relay at an automotive store than an electrical supply house. The cost of acquisition of much of this stuff is basically zero except that with most of it, it will take 24-48 hours to acquire it. Good think it packs down to a very small volume. Whether the Lean people admit it or not, the production losses in 24-48 hours are often more than an entire warehouse of spare parts. So what’s the point of this…it depends on how you look at it. Lean manufacturing principles have effectively and decisively created a business opportunity for me.
And do I even need to mention “supply chain issues”, the latest and greatest excuse for every manufacturer out there to explain why they suck so badly at doing their jobs instead of just admitting that their management decided that they would LEAN away from making sales? That they decided that if they simply reduce their costs to zero (as well as their customer base) that they would increase profit margins to infinity since they would no longer have any manufacturing costs at all.
If you can’t tell I’m not against some of the IDEAS of LEAN but the overall concept is so oversimplified that it’s a joke. I come from a long line of pack rats. My wife is SOMEWHAT of a pack rat. Often I store something for her just to wait her out a couple years so that after the third or fourth attempt I can finally get permission to throw something away (if it doesn’t grow legs and just disappear on it’s own…). I understand the idea. And since I mentioned working out of a van, space is a precious thing to me and if I don’t need it, I don’t want it. But inventory is not all bad. It’s just that we don’t spend the time we need to maintaining it.
Nate
I try to go lean, but there’s always a few exceptions. I have a nice rack I’ve built which allows me to store offcuts. Those are pretty useful for small projects like cutting boards. Also, if there’s a phenomenal deal, I will store stuff. My friend bought a house and had two 3 foot stacks of air-dried oak slabs. I store those under my deck. It’s easily $3000 worth of wood I got for free.
Jason Watkins
When you have to stretch every single dollar as far as it can go saving darn near everything serves its purpose. The last 5-6 projects have all been made using scraps from other random junk. I simply don’t have the money to be able to throw stuff away.
So in a sense I’m very lean. If I am spending money it’s only on the exact amount of what I need. No room in the budget for extra.
Ct451
Do you own a refrigerator? Why stock vegetables? Drop by the supermarket everyday and run your kitchen “lean”. How about your bathroom supplies.
I would think most try to maximize their buying power. Room you can manage with a little less. Money you cannot.
While manufactures make money from not keeping inventory others in the same supply chain make money from keeping it. I have room and time and I can put up with some unused stock laying around. Keeping a workshop neat like the picture also robs you of the contemplation and conversations you have about piles and tubs and barrels of “junk” you have laying around.
Stuart
How many days worth of perishables do you keep in your refrigerator? One week’s worth? Two? Six? How much space might you give to extra milk?
Everyone should seek a balance that works for them.
IronWood
Interesting discussion, I’ve enjoyed reading everyone’s thoughts and experiences. I definitely tend toward the pack rat side of things. For me the ability to dig around and find what I need in existing stock is worth a little clutter. When a project pops up I typically have whatever I need on hand. If I need a dozen screws that I don’t have I buy a box of 100. Next time I have them. No burning a day running around looking for this and that, or waiting a week for something to come in.
I’ve also seen some change in thinking in industry lately with all the trouble (or excuses) in our supply chains. We’re tending to overbuy on things because we just can’t wait three months for another batch when suddenly everything is out of stock again. I wonder if the inability to predict lead times over the last couple years has put a dent in lean thinking at companies that don’t fully control their supply chains. Just in time only works if there is endless stock waiting to be shipped at all times. My company is kind of in a “break one, buy two” mindset now and that never used to be the case.
So I guess I like the idea and logic of lean principles, but they’re not practical for my personal or small-scale commercial activities. There’s more to efficiency than just inventory management.
Frank D
If you deal with a good amount of DIY, repairs and upgrades; you get a better price by buying certain things in the bulk pack; often times you need a spare or two, there will be an extra change; you may need a plan A, B and even C.
Time is precious, gas is not free … if you only buy an exact amount and for plan A, the slightest issue means you are making another trip to the store. You can return excess after whatever is done. Save the extra sfrom the bulk pack. Yes, means you will have to store some electrical parts, plumbing parts, some extra lumber, extra fasteners, … but there is power in not having to run to the store for the slightest thing, over and over, and over. It is like having a common supply of things in the kitchen pantry, fridge and freezer.
Even with hand tools and powertools, over time I now have a duplicate of most common items … if a powertool falls and dies, I don’t have to stop and run to the store. A helper? Here you go. Solo, I can have two sets on deck … the other day I was doing lots of drilling and driving, the drivers kept running quite hot (it was 95F out) but they each only had to do half the work, I could alternate working in two spots and just let one cool off in front of a fan …
Stuart
But what about things you cannot return for a refund? What about where you can get a refund but have to eat the shipping and return shipping costs?
This is why lean never made sense to me, until I realized it’s not concrete.
Now, I’m thinking about where my balance point is.
I’m a “buy before you need it” and “if I need it once I’ll need it again” type of person. If I need 22 AWG stranded wire for a project, 100 feet for $20 is a lot better than 10 feet for $10. If there’s a span when I won’t use it much, I can put it on a shelf, in a drawer, or somewhere.
But if there’s a span when I won’t use the extra 5ft x 5ft sheets of plywood I ordered to make the most of fixed delivery fees, where can it go where it won’t be in the way?
With respect to time, space, and money, I’d say that I am usually motivated by time or money savings. Moving forward, that works for most things, but not plywood, where space savings is looking to be a higher priority.
Frank D
One has to balance things. I have not ordered sheet goods online. I tend to look for value and future need or not.
I typically buy 4×8 sheet goods in the amount I need, maybe plus 1 extra depending on circumstances. Locally. Special order, I’d factor in shipping cost, future need, … and I tend to not have a spare sheet of plywood around, because I don’t quite have the need, plus I morphed my previous plywood and wood storage cart into a cart for metal staging storage.
I do have some spare 2x materials, pvc pipe, pex pipe, …
Wiring. If it is not available locally, I will online order for the project if it is just one of, likely the bulk price in your example. Otherwise, the big rolls of 14 gauge, 12 gauge. Just enough-ish for the project, if it is a dryer, cooktop, …
Plumbing. I’m doing some garden irrigation. Online bulk order by 12, 24, 36 to account for extras needed, maybe a bad unit, and spares should something break due to gardening damage or winter. I’m not paying the very high $5-10 per unit, when bulk online puts them at $1.
It is a balancing act, that’s for sure.
OldDominionDIYer
As many have alluded to, Just-in-time stocking and LEAN 6 Sigma principles are very often miss-used or improperly applied by eager Managers wanting to apply these to their work at almost any cost despite recommendations to the contrary. So many times they throw away stock only to have to reorder very soon. I’ve seen it for myself, and just shake my head. Used effectively and conservatively it can streamline and reduce costs over time and be very effective. Also, like many others, I stock my own shop with lots of variety of fasteners and such, but I usually buy materials for bigger jobs specifically for that job.
Stuart
Exactly!
It seems a lot of people fall into the same line of thinking that I had, that there’s one way to do things to follow lean practices.
If a manager is practicing just-in-time stocking when they should have a buffer, that’s not lean at all. Lean – as I understand it – requires flexibility. “Assess and improve” means DIYers or management alike should evaluate how well their practices are working for them.
Rob Cat
I’d argue that lean is about avoiding waste and focusing on the customer. In this case Stuart you are the customer and traveling to buy parts or waiting for deliveries are wastes. On the other hand, spending time and motion sorting through piles of stuff to find a part is also waste that doesn’t add value if you are trying to finish a project. The “just in time approach” is just one aspect of lean. My formal study in lean focused on getting the best result for the customer, which is different to a lot of peoples perception to it.
Franco
Part 1 (too long)
I do not know who “invented” or started lean, but Dell certainly took advantage of it when they became big in the 90’s. They had a name for it, something along the lines of on demand fulfillment or similar.
Where all their competitors were making PC’s on forecasts of what they thought would sell, Dell was going by you ordered your PC by selecting all the options you wanted and they made it, then shipped it to you. If you want to be a supplier to Dell, you had to follow very strict guidelines of getting them the parts they wanted ASAP, but not 1 piece extra…they would not take it.
Anyway, their process goes much deeper, but were an excellent example of Lean. And Lean can work quite well in manufacturing.
As an individual, by themselves, it is harder to implement. Suppliers are not at your beckon call, it is more the reverse…need to get there before they close. Also, how much do you do has a lot to do with what you need.
Franco
Part 2
I have friends…many, they have zero or close to zero DIY skills. Replacing a light bulb is the extent of what they do. Otherwise they call an electrician, plumber, carpenter, contractor, or whatever is needed. They never change the oil in their car, heck, if they can find a full service station, they ask the kid pumping gas to check the oil level.
On the other end of the spectrum are people like ourselves. We do anywhere from quite a bit on our own, to everything…if we can.
What we lack is clout. A big company gets on the phone or emails a supplier they need “this”. The supplier, wanting their business, jumps at fulfilling their order. If they need it overnight, so be it. The next morning, when the workers come in, what was ordered is there, or will be before 10:30 or in some cases 8:30am.
Me, you and others here can’t do that. Yes, we have Amazon, but they do no carry everything, plus, there is a cost…I mean being a DIY’er, yes, we like doing things, but we also like saving money (cheap), hence, we do it ourselves.
Nothing ruins a good day, like having to run out and get something we need. We could call purchasing and tell them we need it tomorrow morning, but I don’t have a purchasing department. Actually I do…it’s me. I am receiving, accounting reception, and all the departments a company has.
So, screws, bolts, washers and all that small stuff, I buy in the 100/box and put them in bins. Wood, I just ordered 100 2×3, 100 1×4, and 50 2×4 to fix an old shed on the property I bought 3 years ago. Will I use all the wood I ordered, No. But I’ll stack it on lumber shelves I made and you can be sure they will be used.
Do I buy everything with surplus…no, but often yes. I need a couple of receptacle boxes or octagonal junction boxes; I never buy what I need, I always look for the “deal” on the 6 or 8 pack.
I can go on and on, but Lean can and does work for MFR’s that make “X” number of products and always use the same parts.
Me, I can’t do that. They aren’t enough hours in a day to get things done as it is. To be constantly running around for things I did not properly plan for. or expect to breakdown, I would simply give up and pay someone to do it.
Bob
Like most things in life it seems LEAN is a bit nuanced. Quite the thought provoking post for me. How many of us have thought about our personal shop/hobby/maker storage philosophy or if we even have one? I have spill over from my professional ventures but never really defined a goal for my personal shop.
Stuart I’m glad you were able to strike a balance for your particular needs. It’s a nice feeling elevating ones work area to a level of organization they are happy with.
Personally, since the “great shortage” I increased my already respectable inventory on consumables. To a point this stuff doesn’t go bad, is a time, money and convenience saver for me.
Anecdotally, the supply of PPE and other inventories I was lucky enough to have on hand really saved my bacon both personally and professionally so I’m hesitant to reduce that.
However, I have to be careful not to overbuy for personal projects. Like most people I can quickly outgrow my “warehousing”.
Looks like getting a “system” together that works for ones needs in regards to inventory levels and maybe even more importantly, scrap management is the key to success.
To that end I have utilized this plywood storage cart in my garage to great effect! If I had the width I would have went wider. I’m less diligent on managing the lumber on these lumber racks but they do work great for storage especially if you have tall ceilings.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=NSUwyMdPAEg
Mr. C
I’m in a semi-rural part of the country. It’s a solid 30+ minute drive to the nearest store — and it’s a severely downsized big box home improvement store with really poor hours. Factor in a full time job that starts me early and ends me late….I may only have one day a week I can carve out a trip into town.
Anything mail order is going to take 3-7 days at the very least. Gone are the days of Amazon Prime 2-day shipping.
A lot of what I do is with electronics work — so there are literally zero retail options for components. Try to find a nylon M2.5 screw and nut locally. Yeah, didn’t think so.
I keep what I need…and what I think I need….onhand. And especially if I can nab a great price on those things, I’ll stock up with a reasonable amount. Larger, bulkier items are harder to justify keeping in stock especially if they get in the way — but smaller bits and bobs? Absolutely.
We learned the hard way with Covid that we can’t take stores always being stocked for granted. There may be droughts for MONTHS for once-common supplies. “Oh, this month — literally NO ONE has lightbulbs. Hope you didn’t need any!” We haven’t entirely recovered from those shortages either.
Having a “lean”/”just in time” system or following a “minimalist lifestyle” has a cost. It’s offloading that to someone else, hoping they will shoulder that burden for you. And let’s just say, I’ve always kept a cupboard full of shelf-stable & tinned goods — and that’s not about to stop now.
DRT42
I live in a fairly rural part of the world, and agree with Mr. C’s observations. “Lean, buy as you need it” ? You gotta be kidding. There was a while during Covid when I couldn’t even buy water softener salt. Please consider the consequences of having no water in your house, and what that does to your psyche. I buy bolts in the 25 pack, multiple sizes at a time, and when I go to TSC, I buy bags of fasteners that I don’t even have a project for, yet. If I tried to go “lean”, nothing whatsoever would be accomplished. Metric fasteners? Whoa man, what’s that? McMaster and BelMetric are my friends, and they take a while for UPS to deliver.
Franco
+1 I agree wholeheartedly. The COVID shortages how gone down quite a bit, but still, there are always lots of empty shelves in the stores, and backorders online.
This is an additional reason why I can’t afford to be LEAN
Nick
My shop is 40′ x110′. I don’t do anything lean. I stick up on whatever I can get.
Franco
I moved 3 years ago. Where I lived I had a 20 x 20 workshop, a 10 x 20 shed, and a smaller 8 x 8 shed. Over the years, I added shelves, made to the size of boxes which would be on there. In the workshop, I put many ‘hanging from the ceiling” type shelfs. Both sheds were built with high peak roofs to allow for ample attic storage.
In my workshop, you had a hard time figuring out what the color of the painted walls was, because you couldn’t find open spaces. I had trouble finding a place to hang s fire extinguisher.
When I moved, I had many friends and family help (7 loads in a 20 ft truck) + 3 loads from pros using a 26ft truck. Everyone knew in advance it would be lots to move, but no one expected there would be as much as there was.
The new place (very old house from the year 1900) was 3200 sq ft living space compared to previous place 1900. The new place has a 30 x 50 workshop + a 15 x 15 shed + another 14 x 10 shed. When the move was done, you could not walk anywhere in the workshop and sheds.
Every single person was amazed that all of this came from the previous place and how the heck did it all fit in the previous place.
Not to pat myself on the back, but everything was very well organized and labelled…YES, I AM VERY ANAL.
Because of so many renovations I am doing in the new place, I have barely touched the surface of organizing everything…just enough o get by and find things.
LEAN, sure, it would have been great for the move and getting into the “new” place. But I need everything I have and LEAN may work for some, but not for me. I am 64 and retired, sort of disabled and will live out my remaining years in this place.
Like a few others have alluded to, if I was super wealthy, then I could afford to be LEAN…but still wouldn’t because I enjoy all of my “toys”…yes, scrap pieces of wood are toys to me. Scrap anything are toys.
I am not like these hoarders you see on TV where you can’t even open a door. Or houses you see in rural areas that have 3-4 old scrapped cars or scrap anything over the grounds. I do not have old washing machines or engine blocks lying around, no time to play with those things. I have what I consider needed for me. I need organization, and before I die, I will have it again.
If LEAN works for you, great. Me, I need to have my organization in place and one day it will once again be organized and I will be as happy as a pig in sh*t!
M
Late to the post but this is well timed.
I’m in an overcrowded 20×22 “shop” aka my attached garage. It’s become a dumping ground for overflow from the house storage which is sorely lacking. I’m at the point where I need my shop back in order to solve the storage issues. But because of the overflow and the excess stuff, some of which needs to be sold or disposed of, I’m stuck between a rock and a hard place. I almost went whole hog and bought a bunch of stuff this weekend to “solve” my storage problems….problem is I have no room for any of it at the moment. I have to prep the area in order to be able to build and install cabinets and shelving….but in order to do that I have to move all the stuff first. The catch 22 is I need to get the storage sorted so I can get rid of the stuff that needs to be sold, donated, or trashed.
M
Hit enter too fast.
But yeah I basically can’t afford to buy anything else than what is absolutely necessary at this point because I don’t really have the space for it. I know I’ll have surplus from projects, but I’m going to try to standardize across the board as much as possible to limit “random surplus” – and annually I’m purging the random surplus or doing a project to consume as much of it as possible.
As a woodworker I hoard wood, to include offcuts, because you “just might” need a tiny scrap for something. The amount of times I’ve needed a tiny scrap are few and far between. I’ll keep reasonably sized pieces of scrap, or have a bin dedicated to smaller offcuts to make into cutting boards/coasters/etc but I’m not keeping everything anymore. I need to buy a wood burning firepit so I have a method for effective, and fun, disposal.
Stuart
Exactly!!
Franco
You are not alone. Keeping all kinds of stuff can be great, but you also need to be “anal” in your approach to separating, organizing and putting everything in its place…and in a way that you can easily find it when you need it.
Ross
Yeah it probably really depends on the situation for each individual. I started out my handyman work saving every potentially useful leftover, I can recall even charging for half of a roll of wire if I only used half and I’d keep the rest. As this work evolved to career though this mindset became more of a problem, it still is. It’s hard to not save things that look useful for a project later on my own house, but the value is actually fairly dubious. Although hard to quantify, I have to realize that space is not free, renting a garage sized storage space is a few hundred per month in fees (despite being way less convenient), and on top of that is effort to organize stuff in costly bins, shelving, and labeling so that I actually remember it when needed. It’s also hard for me to look past the “individual” value of an item and to the general value of everything (like if I saved 5 things, but only used one of them, then it was effectively 5 times more)
mikedt
I like to stock up on hardware assortment sets. Screws, nuts, bolts, spring, o-rings, roller pins, electrical connectors, you name it. They tend to be good buys vs buying a bolt or 2 at HD/Lowes and having a big assortment lets me solve a lot of problems at home. Sometimes it’s an exact replacement, sometimes it’s a jury rig, but it works.
Franco
My wife sent me this video, just happenstance.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wOJUa7qiAJw
As much as I cannot be LEAN, this video shares a sentiment by many who live in Europe versus NA, as well as many Americans that move over there. It isn’t planned as LEAN but essentially the end result goes beyond LEAN, sort of like LEAN 2.0.
And although this video speaks about Italy’s culture, it can be about many of the European Mediterranean countries.
Slow down and enjoy life. You won’t have to worry about being LEAN, or not.
Stuart
I don’t think you understand my point. Lean for the sake of “lean” is meaningless. I bought lumber early to save money later, but am stumbling over it in the meantime. Going “lean” in that one area would – for me – mean designating a finite space for storing wood, and then buying as I need beyond that.
A “don’t worry about it, let things happen” attitude is how I got into this situation.
Franco
Maybe I misunderstood, but I believe what you were getting at is the fine balance between the following.
Buying stuff on sale, even if you do not need it now, but probably will later. Or buying more or in bulk, to get better pricing and also to have enough “inventory” so that when you have a project or need to do a quick fix, you should have the necessary parts on hand instead of running out to the store every time. All of this at the price of “clutter” or needing space for all of these items you buy in surplus or the items you do not throw out and cannibalize.
Versus, staying LEAN, which is buying only what you need, when you need it. This saves a lot of space, but might cost more because things won’t have deals just because you need them. Also the time needed to purchase on a need it basis only.
Achieving the fine balance of certain items always available (common fasteners) but not overdoing it. Like keeping 1 furnace filter backup is OK, but buying a dozen to save $3/ filter requires space to store them and money outlay that can be spent elsewhere.
Something along these lines is what I interpret as your discussion on LEAN.
I think that just about all of your readers struggle with achieving the fine balance between the two. And you have the extreme LEAN that prefer to have everything clean and clear in their workshop. The prefer order and space, and are willing to put time and effort to get what they need, when they need it.
The other extreme is borderline hoarding by never throwing anything out because it “could” be needed one day. You accumulate enough “inventory” to always have “X” on hand when needed at the expense of clutter and tripping over things.
This, I believe is the mentality that we face, one or the other, or something in between.
The video I posted was that in many European countries, LEAN is implemented in more than just the workshop. People have smaller homes, only 1 TV, small fridges. They live more outside, they purchase groceries for that day, on a daily basis. Do not have TV’s in every room of the house, preferring to be out, spending the evening on outdoor terraces.
Different culture, different mindset, I was thinking it was beyond LEAN in the workshop, but as a lifestyle, very laidback and easy going. We’ll worry about that bridge when we get to it…sort of LEAN 2.0.
Stuart
Lean and just-in-time manufacturing have a lot of parallels, but they don’t have to.
Lean, at its core, is about improvement and elimination of waste.
Buying extra plywood has benefits, but at high space costs. Fasteners, wire, and other such things have greater benefits and lower space costs.
For me, extra sheets of plywood for a project that’s been on-hold and redesigned several times is wasteful. Having fasteners just in case can be wasteful, but helps a lot more than it hurts.
I need a disconnect switch for a project. The one I want has an ETA of 2-3 months from now. A suitable replacement isn’t ideal, but has the same mounting hole pattern. So, I ordered both and will use the functional stand-in until the other one is in stock. Once the desired switch is available, I’ll swap things out and have the functional stand-in available as a spare part or future project use or testing. Is this Lean for industry? No. For me? Yes.
It finally clicked that lean for me is unique for me.