Your biggest enemy: Waste
In every industry—from hospitality and short-term rentals to manufacturing, healthcare, construction, and corporate operations—the greatest threats to productivity are not always large failures or dramatic breakdowns. More often, they are the small, hidden inefficiencies built into everyday processes. Lean Management identifies these inefficiencies as the Eight Wastes, summarized through the acronym TIMWOODS: Transportation, Inventory, Motion, Waiting, Overproduction, Overprocessing, Defects, and Skills underutilization.
Whether you oversee property management operations, run a cleaning team, manage maintenance workflows, or lead any service-oriented business, understanding TIMWOODS allows you to eliminate waste, increase profitability, and deliver a higher-quality experience to customers and clients.
T — Transportation
Transportation waste occurs whenever materials, tools, or people are moved unnecessarily. In service industries, this often shows up as cleaners driving inefficient routes, maintenance techs backtracking across properties, or supplies being stored far from where they’re used. Every extra trip increases fuel, time, and labor expense without adding value.
I — Inventory
Excess inventory ties up cash and creates clutter. Stockpiling linens, cleaning supplies, or spare parts may feel safe, but over-ordering leads to spoilage, loss, misplacement, or damage. Inventory waste also occurs when information accumulates—duplicate records, outdated spreadsheets, or redundant scheduling tools.
M — Motion
Motion waste refers to unnecessary movement during a task. In a rental property context, this could be cleaners repeatedly searching for supplies, techs walking back and forth due to poor tool organization, or staff navigating disorganized stockrooms. Poor layout design and lack of standardized procedures often cause this waste.
W — Waiting
Waiting is one of the most costly wastes. It includes cleaners waiting for dirty linens to dry, guests waiting for maintenance responses, employees waiting for approvals, or tasks delayed because needed information isn’t shared. Waiting stretches timelines, reduces output, and damages the guest or client experience.
O — Overproduction
Overproduction is producing more than what is needed or producing it too early. In service industries, this includes cleaning units long before check-in time, generating reports no one reads, or preparing materials that ultimately go unused. Overproduction often creates additional wastes, such as overprocessing, motion, and inventory.
O — Overprocessing
Overprocessing waste happens when effort exceeds what the customer actually values. Examples include excessive documentation, unnecessary guest messaging, redundant inspections, or overly complicated workflows. If the customer wouldn’t pay for it, it’s probably waste.
D — Defects
Defects include errors, mistakes, or service failures that require rework. A poorly cleaned cabin, a misdiagnosed maintenance issue, or a double-booked stay all create costly downstream problems. Defects consume time, resources, and client trust.
S — Skills Underutilization
The final waste—sometimes the most damaging—is failing to use people at their highest capability. This occurs when employees with insights, technical expertise, or leadership potential are confined to low-value tasks. It also includes lack of training, unclear expectations, or failure to ask for input from frontline workers.
Why TIMWOODS Matters for Modern Operations
TIMWOODS reveals where value leaks from your organization. When leaders apply TIMWOODS consistently, they identify root causes of inefficiency, develop standardized processes, and build teams that operate smoothly and predictably.
In fast-paced environments—especially short-term rentals and property management—mastery of TIMWOODS leads to lower costs, fewer errors, faster turnaround times, higher guest satisfaction, and ultimately a stronger bottom line.
TIMWOODS isn’t just a Lean tool—it’s a mindset that transforms chaos into clarity and operations into a competitive advantage.