Waste
Chapter 3
Waste (muda)
 Anything other than the minimum amount
of resources (material, labor, parts,
equipment, time) absolutely necessary to
add value to a product or service.
Value-added
 Anything that directly adds value to the product
or services as seen or experienced by the
customer
Non-value added
 Waste (should be eliminated)
Necessary non-value added
 Non-value added, but necessary and hard to
eliminate (e.g., planning, scheduling,
purchasing, quality control, etc.)
Toyota’s Seven Wastes
Overproduction
Waiting time
Transportation
Processing
Inventory
Motion (non-work)
Defects
(Sometimes also included: Human potential)
Overproduction
Overproduction
Solution: Produce only on demand
Waiting
Waiting
Solution: Discourage “busy work”
so waiting can be identified.
Eliminate sources of waiting
• Setup time
• Equipment breakdown
• Erratic schedules
• Large-batch production
• Defects
Transportation
Transportation
Solutions:
•Rearrange facility layout to shorten distances
• Coordinate stages of process
• Use good housekeeping
• Improve transportation methods
Spaghetti Chart
Patient
Rooms
Nurse
station
60+ trips per patient to get supplies or enter information
Solutions:
• Rearrange facility layout to shorten distances
• Rearrange or alter stages of the process
• Use good housekeeping
• Improve transportation methods
John
Processing
Dealer
Faxes
Order
Paper
Order
Created
4% of
orders lost
Order Sits
In Fax
In Box
0 to 4 hours
2 hours on average
Order Sits
In Clerk’s
In Box
Internal Mail
Delivers Fax
0.5 to 1.5 hours
1 hour on average
1% of orders lost
0 to 2 hours
1 hour on average
Clerk
Processes
Order
5 minutes
10 to 45 minutes
20 minutes on average
Dealer
Receives
Order
Transport Firm
Delivers Order
1 to 3 hours
2 hours on average
No history of lost,
damaged, or incorrect
deliveries
Inspector
Checks
Order
Worker
Picks
Order
2 minutes
0.5% of orders incorrect
YES
Is Item
In Stock?
NO
Clerk Notifies
= value-added activity Dealer and
Passes Order
On to Plant
Processing
Dealer
Faxes
Order
Paper
Order
Created
4% of
orders lost
Solution: Analyze steps; identify
non-value added ones; try to
eliminate them
Order Sits
In Fax
In Box
0 to 4 hours
2 hours on average
Order Sits
In Clerk’s
In Box
Internal Mail
Delivers Fax
0.5 to 1.5 hours
1 hour on average
1% of orders lost
0 to 2 hours
1 hour on average
Clerk
Processes
Order
5 minutes
10 to 45 minutes
20 minutes on average
Dealer
Receives
Order
Transport Firm
Delivers Order
1 to 3 hours
2 hours on average
No history of lost,
damaged, or incorrect
deliveries
Inspector
Checks
Order
Worker
Picks
Order
2 minutes
0.5% of orders incorrect
YES
Is Item
In Stock?
NO
Clerk Notifies
= value-added activity Dealer and
Passes Order
On to Plant
Inventory
Inventory (the “Flower of all Evil”)
Flower: Inventory
Root: Bad management
practices
Inventory
Solutions
• Produce only what is required or
demanded
• Produce in small batches
• Procure in small batches
• Eliminate the reasons for inventories;
e.g.,
Inventory
Reasons for inventory
•
•
•
•
•
Uncertain demand
Product defects
Equipment breakdown
Erratic schedules
Poor housekeeping/inventory control
Motion (non-work)
Motion (non-work)
Solutions
• Improve facility layout
• Improve process and job design
• Clean up and organize workplace
Defects
Defects
Solutions
• Implement a system to preclude defects
(pokayoke)
• Implement system to immediately identify
and rectify defects (source inspection)
Wastes: each company defines its own
 Canon’s nine wastes







operations (motion)
work-in-process (inventory)
defects
equipment (procurement and operation)
expenses (personnel, materials, tools, etc.)
indirect labor (management functions)
planning
(inappropriate methods, machinery, purchasing)
 human resources
(people given tasks better done by machines; not given tasks that
require judgment and creativity)
 startup (setup/changeover time)
Waste of Human Talent
 Most everyone has ideas about
improvements that could be put to good
use. Seldom are these ideas valued,
solicited, or implemented
Necessary, nonvalue-added
Planning
Scheduling
Purchasing
Quality Inspection
Process/equipment changeover
Equipment preventive maintenance/repair
Others?
Can these be eliminated?