Lean manufacturing and Services, contrasted by Levitt; "Manufacturing looks for solutions inside the very tasks to be done... Service looks for solutions in the performer of the task." (T.Levitt, Production-Line Approach to Service, Harvard Business Review, September 1972).[3]
Delay on the part of customers waiting for service, for delivery, in queues, for response, not arriving as promised.
Duplication. Having to re-enter data, repeat details on forms, copy information across, answer queries from several sources within the same organisation.
Unnecessary Movement. Queuing several times, lack of one-stop, poor ergonomics in the service encounter.
Unclear communication, and the wastes of seeking clarification, confusion over product or service use, wasting time finding a location that may result in misuse or duplication.
Incorrect inventory. Being out-of-stock, unable to get exactly what was required, substitute products or services.
An opportunity lost to retain or win customers, a failure to establish rapport, ignoring customers, unfriendliness, and rudeness.
Errors in the service transaction, product defects in the product-service bundle, lost or damaged goods.
Service quality errors, lack of quality in service processes.
Shillingburg and Seddon separately provides an additional type of waste for the method:[5][page needed][6][title missing]
Value Demand, services demanded by the customer. Failure Demand, production of services as a result of defects in the upstream system.
Criticism
John Seddon outlines challenges with Lean Services in his paper "Rethinking Lean Service" (Seddon 2009) using examples from the UK tax-authorities
HMRC.[2]