One Gallon of Waste at the Hospital

"Do you remember that gallon of blah-blah-blah that I asked you to order last week? Do you know where it is?"

So started the conversation in the hospital ward, and the search began.

The file of paper requisition forms was searched.
The computer records were examined.
Two phone calls were made.
A search of the storage room was undertaken.
Thirty cabinet doors were opened and closed.
Another phone call was made.
Three people were asked if they'd seen the blah-blah-blah.
Two possibilities were suggested.
Two wild geese were chased.
Another staff arrived and said they thought it was back-ordered.
The computer records were examined again.
Two more phone calls were made.
The blah-blah-blah wasn't found.
A new requisition order was filled out.

This is just one gallon of waste, one tiny incident in the life of a busy hospital. This is one small example of how trivial our wastes can be.

This little incident won't even make the radar of management, won't be considered important in the grand scheme of things, but this is the stuff that drives people crazy. This is the stuff that contributes to error. This is the stuff that wastes time and money, day after day after day. This is what Lean, and 5S, and continuous improvement, and employee engagement is all about.