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Are you aware that 95% of all the activities undertaken by traditional manufacturing
businesses do not add any value OR in other words a waste??? Waste elimination is the
central theme of Lean manufacturing. So, what is waste? Waste is defined as anything
that does NOT add value from a customer perspective or the customer is not prepared to
pay for.
Taiichi Ohno was the Toyota executive largely responsible for structuring and
implementing the system over four decades after World War II, known today as the
Toyota Production System and it was Taiicho Ohno who proposed the 7 deadly wastes in
production. The eighth waste, Non-Effective use of Staff Talents was added later.
1. Defects - Quality defects prevent the customers from accepting the defected product.
Defects, Rework, Scrap, corrections come under this category of waste. The defects
are caused by Parts mismatch, forgotten parts in assembly, Scratches on parts
(material quality), Spoiled parts, useless because dirty, or scratched, Poor
Instructions, Lack of Training, Not following the right sequence, Lack of Maintenance.
Defects Lead to waste of $$$ (costs escalate the longer they remain undetected),
decrease in throughput and in some instances loss of customers.
Solutions: Prevention prior to detection, Failure Mode Effects Analysis, Building
Quality at source, Root Cause Analysis and Error Proofing.
2. Over Production - Making too much, too early or “just-in-case” (most serious of all
waste). The reasons for Over Production are keeping the machines running,
changeover times are high, requirement for buffer stocks, and production is NOT
demand driven.
Over Production Leads to a) Long lead times b) Long storage times c) Defects may
cause products to deteriorate if not detected early and d) Excess WIP inventories that
lead to physical separation of operations and discourages communication.
Solutions: Implement Pull Systems and Supermarkets where required. Supermarkets
are storage locations for WIP but with controlled stocks using minimum and maximum
stock levels.
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3. Waiting - Anytime materials or components are seen to be not moving in other
words, materials or components waiting for machines or operators to work on them,
operators waiting for materials or information, operators watching machines, waiting
for tools, late delivery of materials or machines waiting for QA releases etc.
Waiting Leads to Long lead times and $$$ not being processed
Solutions: Reduce queue size, Point of Use Storage, deployment of Visual Systems,
Improving Planning and Load Levelling.
7. Motion – Unnecessary Movement of people which does not add value and refers to
the importance of ergonomics for productivity and quality. Motion is caused by poor
layout, lack of standard methods, poor house keeping, poor process design, and non-
use of Point of Use Storage. Examples include, looking/searching for tools and
information, bending, reaching, double handling, walking etc.
Motion leads to improper utilisation of productive time, health & safety issues thereby
operators becoming the victim.
Solutions: Introduction of work-cells, shadow boards etc.
Summary – It is hard to see these wastes for staff who have been working in
organisations for a number of years. Therefore it is essential that, every employee of the
business undergoes formal training in these eight wastes, so that everyone keeps an eye
out for the wastes in whatever they do. The easiest way to remember the 8 wastes is to
join the first letters to get DOWNTIME, which represents unproductive time. The trick
lies in learning to see the waste(s) so that these can be eliminated.