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Cutting Transportation Waste: How to Optimise Movement in Your Workspace

Did you know that transportation waste is one of the most common (and overlooked) inefficiencies in production environments? Find out more about Transportation Waste in our '8 Wastes' series.

Whether it’s excessive movement of materials, inefficient workflows, or poorly planned layouts, unnecessary transportation can slow down operations and add hidden costs to your bottom line. 

In our '8 Wastes' blog series, we’re exploring practical strategies for reducing waste in your workspace. In this article, we're exploring one of the biggest wastes in production environments - transportation waste - as well as how Gigant’s flexible solutions can help optimise every move.

What Is Transportation Waste?

Transportation waste occurs when materials, parts, or products are moved more than necessary within a workspace. This often results from poor layout design, lack of flexible equipment, or over-reliance on manual handling.

Key examples include:

• Excessive trips between workstations due to poor placement of tools or materials.
• Moving materials unnecessarily to and from storage.
• Inefficient workflows that increase the time and energy spent on internal transportation.
  
  

Why It Matters

Transportation waste doesn’t just consume time—it also impacts:

• Productivity: Workers spend time moving items rather than completing value-added tasks.
• Cost Efficiency: Unnecessary movement increases wear and tear on equipment, energy use, and labor costs.
• Safety: Repeated manual handling or poorly organised paths can lead to workplace injuries.
  
  

How to Identify Transportation Waste

The first step in reducing transportation waste is to identify where it’s occurring in your workspace. Here are some practical methods to uncover inefficiencies:

• Observe Workflows: Watch how materials, tools, and products are moved within your workspace. Look for repeated trips, unnecessary steps, or bottlenecks that slow things down.
• Analyse Layouts: Evaluate your current floor plan. Are workstations positioned logically? Is storage easily accessible? A poor layout can be a significant cause of transportation waste.
• Use a Spaghetti Diagram: A spaghetti diagram is a powerful tool for visualising transportation waste. By mapping the paths that workers or materials take in your workspace, you can see where inefficiencies arise and identify areas for improvement.
  

What is a Spaghetti Diagram?

A spaghetti diagram is a simple visual representation of movement within a space. It tracks the actual paths taken by workers, tools, or materials during a process, resembling a “spaghetti” of overlapping lines. 

• Pick a Process: Choose a process or task to analyse, such as assembling parts or transporting materials to storage.
• Map the Movement: Use a floor plan to trace the paths taken by workers, tools, or materials. You can track movements manually or with tracking tools.
• Analyse the Data: Look for long, overlapping, or inefficient routes.
• Redesign the Layout: Based on the findings, reposition workstations, tools, or storage to minimise unnecessary movement.
  

Example of a Spaghetti Diagram

Our example diagram of a working space which has been optimised using a Spaghetti Diagram is shown below.

Before	After
All workers use the storage shelving, yet its position creates a lot of transportation waste Paths overlap frequently in the middle of the space, creating high traffic areas with opportunity for inefficiency and risk More work than necessary is taking place near to machinery	By rearranging the working space, transportation waste is reduced dramatically The central location of the storage shelving and quality control workstations create clear divides between the working areas Exposure to working near machinery is reduced, improving safety conditions

As you can see, before rearranging the location of the storage shelving and working stations, the Spaghetti Diagram highlighted a huge amount of Transportation Waste, with long distances to walk and overlapping pathways creating high traffic and potentially dangerous areas. The design of the working environment also put lots of traffic nearby to machinery, which was dramatically reduced with the redesigned work space.

Solutions to Reduce Transportation Waste

Eliminating transportation waste starts with creating a more flexible, organised workspace. 

At Gigant, we understand that every workspace is unique. That’s why our products are designed for flexibility and customisation, helping you minimise transportation waste and boost efficiency.

Here are three practical solutions to streamline movement in your production environment:

1. Mobile Workstations with Tool Storage Keep essential tools and small components at hand by using mobile workstations with integrated storage. These stations can be easily moved between work areas, reducing trips and keeping workflows smooth.  For added utility, our expansion set enables you to add uprights to include tool panels, lighting and shelving, while our accessories package enables you to add cabinets for tools, wire baskets or spindles.
2. Modular Trolleys for Material Movement Lightweight and customisable trolleys are perfect for securely transporting parts and materials between specialised workstations.  This minimises unnecessary back-and-forth trips and keeps everything within easy reach.
3. Customisable Workbenches Why not keep parts or materials that you need at workstations exactly where you need them to be? Our modular system enables you to add a huge array of accessories to your workbenches, including cabinets, shelves, tool panels, hooks, drawer units, flexible arm accessories and more.  You can even equip your workbenches with castors to allows you to reposition workstations flexibly based on changing production needs.

Take Action Today

Transportation Waste is a challenge, but it’s also an opportunity. 

With the right tools and strategies, you can create a workspace that’s efficient, flexible, and tailored to your production needs.

Ready to optimise your operations? Explore Gigant’s customisable solutions or get in touch today!