In 2018 Forbes estimated that 20% of every dollar spent in the manufacturing industry was wasted—not through physical waste produced by manufacturing itself, rather through money lost due to inefficiencies in the manufacturing process.

Our industry is evolving so fast that 2018 often seems like another country. But, while the data may be, well, dated, my discussions with manufacturers indicate that wastage remains a key concern on both sides of the pond.

What do manufacturers mean by waste? The Lean Manufacturing approach defines waste as any action or step in a process that doesn’t add value to the customer. Wastage includes, but isn’t limited to:

• Defects: errors that lead to wasted time and materials
• Overprocessing: doing more work than required to deliver the optimum product
• Waiting: the downtime caused when materials, information, people and equipment aren’t ready
• Motion/transportation: the unnecessary movement of people—such as walking, reaching or bending—or products and materials between processes
• Underutilised talent: not maximising the potential of a team’s skills and knowledge

Formula 1™ teams are lean machines—literally and figuratively—because time, efficiency, and performance are everything in the white heat of the racetrack. The tools, techniques and technologies used to reduce wastage trackside are now being applied by innovative manufacturers to help them accelerate solutions, drive value and gain that all-important competitive advantage. Here’s how:

🛠️Reducing defects

F1 teams use advanced simulation tools and digital twins to prototype and stress-test components before physical manufacture. Manufacturers are increasingly adopting this approach to reduce trial-and-error in the development of equipment. And, when issues do occur, F1-derived sensors and analytics can be used to pinpoint the exact location of the problem in record time. We typically deliver the insights our clients need to solve issues within two days. Our rapid diagnosis of a production line issue helped to eliminate wastage for a global pharmaceutical provider.

🏭Streamlining processing

In F1, performance gains come from precise, incremental improvements—not from piling on complexity. Engineers obsess over the tiniest changes, running simulations, real-world tests, and live data analysis to identify exactly what makes a difference and what doesn’t. This approach is helping a leading FMCG organisation to increase throughput, enhance quality and reduce wasted product, effort and energy.

⏱️ Decreasing downtime

Every fraction of a second counts in F1, and our engineers and data scientists are geared for readiness and responsiveness. We bring this same pace to problem solving for manufacturers, using our Digitally Observed Insights and Dynamic Process Control to keep production lines moving, solving the issues that cause machinery downtime and ensuring that materials, people and systems are always in sync. Our root cause analysis and predictive maintenance is helping another client to reduce downtime and save £12M.

🚶‍♂️Making every movement count

From garage layout to pitstop choreography, F1 is all about efficiency. Every movement is analysed and optimised. Our human motion analytics give manufacturers the insights they need to streamline operations and safeguard their teams. And, when it comes to materials and products, our machine vision tools and analytics enable us to capture high-speed, event-driven data, often not visible to the human eye to resolve issues and optimise production lines. In the words of one of our Mondelez clients, “I am thoroughly impressed with PurpleSector’s outstanding simulation skills. Their machine vision tools and advanced analytics ensure that our eggs are perfectly wrapped every time.”

🧠Scaling knowledge and supporting talent

While F1 drivers are the celebrities of the sport, the often-unsung heroes are the engineers and data scientists who help them achieve pole position. Every organisation has its heroes, and the manufacturers I speak to are increasingly concerned by the amount of vital knowledge that’s still in people’s heads: undocumented, siloed, and inaccessible at scale. I’ve written before about how GenAI can help capture and share this knowledge so it’s available to the full team, wherever they work. Tried-and-tested F1 techniques such as gamification—which puts the human at the centre and strikes the perfect balance between competition and collaboration—are helping manufacturing-led organisations to empower their talent to drive continuous improvement and add value.

Lean thinking at full throttle

Formula 1™ is a masterclass in lean thinking under pressure. And as more manufacturers look to reduce waste, the paddock offers more than inspiration. It offers a practical, proven playbook. If you'd like to explore how these principles could work in your own operation, or if you’re already implementing some of these approaches, please get in touch or come and visit our stand.