Lean in cannabis · retail · walk sheet
The store: the 8 wastes
paulducey.com/cannabis/retail
DateStore and hourWalked by
Follow one delivery from the back door to the shelf, and one customer from the door to the exit. For each waste, write what you saw, where, and how often. No solutions yet. That comes after you've looked.
| Waste | What it looks like here | Where to look, what to ask | What I saw |
|---|---|---|---|
| DDefects | Wrong item in the bag. "It's on the menu but we don't have it." Menu price doesn't match the POS. | Count adjustments, void log, cancelled orders.Where would a check at the source catch it? | |
| OOverproduction | Every SKU in every store. Slow strains reordered until the back is full. A menu that only grows. | Sales report, slowest first, next to the order.What did we reorder that hasn't sold? | |
| WWaiting | The Friday line at check-in. Online orders sitting unpicked. Waiting on a manager for a void. | Check-in, pickup counter, void log.How long from check-in to served? | |
| NNon-utilized talent | Budtenders hear what customers want, and there's no path from them to planning. | The counter, end of shift.What did customers ask for that we didn't have? | |
| TTransportation | Store-to-store transfers to fix bad allocation. Product shuttled between floor and back room, one item per trip. | Transfer log, a floor plan.How many restock trips did today take? | |
| IInventory | Aged product in the back next to a stockout of a best seller. Slow SKUs taking display space. | Back room shelves, display cases.How old is the oldest lot, and why? | |
| MMotion | Digging through drawers for one pre-roll. Fast sellers far from the door. The walk itself is required. | Back room, behind the counter, busy hour.How many steps to pull one order? | |
| EExtra processing | Hand-counting what the system already counted, beyond required counts. Re-keying online orders at the register. | The register, the end-of-day close.Which steps would a customer never pay for? |
Two numbers to write down: check-in-to-served wait at the busiest hour, and your top seller's units sold divided by days in stock.
Bring it back: who on the team should see this sheet before anyone proposes a fix?
Paul Ducey · Lean in cannabisFree to copy and use. paulducey.com/cannabis