Once again this week I was in a high value business looking at how they could cut waste, energy and water costs. Everything was rosy until we got to the packing lines, where bins were filling up with discarded product because of a raft of issues with machinery, packing materials and, possibly, the operators.

This is not untypical and wasted product at this point is costing you its sale value. If your turnover is £10m then every 1% of product you lose at the end of your process is costing you about £100kpa – because you are paying to produce it and yet can’t sell it.

I’ve seen this in a whole raft of industries – food, pharmaceuticals, lubricants and interiors to name but a few.

And it makes me cross, so stop it!