Waste, which is called Muda in Japan, is the primary focus of Lean Manufacturing.

There are eight identified wastes that occur in any manufacturing facility. Ther e was seven identified wastes but the eighth waste of intelligence was added lat er. Most untrained professionals identify waste with bad product, but there are many other wastes occurring throughout the day in the facility. The eight wastes are: Waiting Inventory Transportation Overproduction Overprocessing Intelligence Motion Rejects/Scrap The waste of waiting occurs in almost every manufacturing and service function. Whenever any employee is waiting for something, it is costing the company money. Not only is the labor cost per unit higher, machinery is often idle while the w ait occurs. If the machinery is not running, it is not being operated at full ca pacity, reducing OEE (Overall Equipment Effectiveness) and the company is losing efficiency and potential sales dollars. Inventory is one of the largest wastes in any industry. Inventory waste comes in the form of raw material, work in process, and finished goods. It costs money t o purchase the inventory that could be used for necessary items. Inventory has a chance to become obsolete. It takes up space and potentially causes inefficient operation. Every operation needs some amount of inventory, but through employin g Lean Manufacturing concepts, the company can reduce it to the minimum amount n ecessary. Transportation is another large waste. One example is movement of product throug h the plant. Mapping the flow of product helps identify some of the transportati on waste, as the movement of product often requires transportation. Overproduction waste is a very large waste because not only is material lost but the labor that was put into converting it and the time spent by equipment produ cing it. Overprocessing occurs in many industries. One form of overprocessing is adding m ore value to the product than the customer wants, needs, or is willing to pay fo r. An example of the waste of intelligence is not involving everyone in the busines s for improvement. Operators often have years of experience and know what could be done to improve the business, but often are never involved. Lean Manufacturin g implementation is most successful involving everyone in the business improveme nt, including operators. Any scrap, defect, or reject is obviously waste. The waste of motion also occurs in every manufacturing and service industry. One small example is looking for something. The goal of Lean Manufacturing is to achieve 100% waste reduction in the system. The Eight Wastes helps us identify and eliminate it. The lean manufacturing online course module on waste teaches how to find and eli minate each of the eight wastes.