The Seven Deadly Wastes and How to Remove Them from Your Business

This book discusses the seven deadly wastes (muda) in the value stream process. It presents the cost of each waste, its effect on the process, and how it can be eliminated to increase profitability. Waste removal increases the profitability of any business. Processes are classified into value added and waste. The seven deadly wastes that could exist in any manufacturing process originated in Japan and are defined in the Toyota production system (TPS). The main goal became removing them. For each waste, there is a strategy to remove or eliminate it. What is less likely is that managers will know how any of these issues are affecting them and increasing costs. To remove each waste, you have to understand where it comes from, why it exists, and how it affects your business. Waste is anything that uses resources but offers the customer nothing in return. Most activities are waste, or "muda," and can be divided into two categories. Although type one muda does not provide value, it is inescapable given the production assets and technologies available today. An illustration would be checking welds for safety, that type we also call necessary non value-added activity. Type two muda does not add value and can be quickly eliminated. An illustration is a process in a process village with disconnected phases that may be swiftly converted into a cell where unnecessary material moves and inventory are no longer necessary. A very small portion of all value-stream activities truly generate value as perceived by the client. The most effective way to boost business performance is to stop doing the numerous unnecessary things. In the economic recession, many companies are taking abstinence procedures to reduce costs. This might include layoff labors and reducing some wages. Actually, those actions might work for only a short period. Afterwards, the situation may return and in worse shape unless the company changes its way of doing things, including enacting a culture of continuous improvement. This puts us back to why the Toyota production system has been created.