The 7 Wastes (Muda)

Within Lean , "Muda" (Japanese for waste) are all activities that consume resources but do not add value to the customer. Recognizing and eliminating these is essential for efficiency and effectiveness.

1. Transportation (Transportation):
   • What it is. The unnecessary movement of materials, products or information from one place to another. This does not add value to the product and can lead to damage or delays.
   • Example: Moving parts between warehouses, dragging documents back and forth, unnecessary clicks to find information in a digital system.
2. Stock (Inventory):
   • What is it? Holding more inventory than is strictly necessary for immediate demand. This applies to raw materials, work in progress (WIP) and finished goods. Inventory hides problems and costs money (storage, interest, obsolescence).
   • Example: Too many products in the warehouse, a pile of unprocessed emails in your inbox, too many components waiting to be assembled.
3. Motion (Motion):
   • What it is. Unnecessary movements of people (employees) that do not add value to the work. This can lead to inefficiency, fatigue and injury.
   • Example: Looking for tools, unnecessary walking between work stations, stretching to grab something.
4. Waiting (Waiting):
   • What is it? Time in which employees or machines wait for the completion of a previous step in the process, for materials, information or approvals. This time does not add value.
   • Example: A machine idling because there is no material, an employee waiting for manager approval, customers waiting in a queue.
5. Overproduction (Overproduction):
   • What is it? Producing more than the customer currently demands, or producing earlier than needed. This is often the worst waste because it causes other wastes (inventory, transportation, waiting).
   • Example: Creating too many reports that no one reads, preparing more meals than sold, sending unsolicited information.
6. Over-processing (Over-processing):
   • What it is. Adding more work or steps to a product or service than the customer actually needs or is willing to pay for. This may be due to excessive quality requirements, unclear specifications or unnecessary controls.
   • Example: Checking multiple times what has already been checked, developing a more complex function than the user needs, unnecessarily polishing a part that disappears into the machine.
7. Defects (Defects):
   • What it is. Errors, manufacturing or service failures that lead to repair work, rejects, complaints or returns. This costs additional time, materials and reduces customer satisfaction.
   • Example: A product that needs to be repaired, an incorrect data entry that needs to be fixed later, an incorrectly delivered package.

Type-I muda does not create value but is unavoidable with today's technologies and production assets. An example is the inspection of welds to ensure they are safe. 

Type-II muda creates no value and can be eliminated immediately. An example is a process with decoupled steps in process villages that can be quickly reconfigured into a cell in which redundant material movements and inventories are no longer needed. 

Most of the activities in the value stream that truly create value in the eyes of the customer constitute only a fraction of the total number of activities. Elimination of the large number of wasteful activities is the greatest potential source of improvement in a company's performance and customer service. 

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