Lean manufacturing is a management philosophy derived mainly from the Toyota Production System. It focuses on eliminating waste, called “Muda”, within a manufacturing system, including the excessive waste of human activity. Its aim is to integrate every step of production into a comprehensive, productive cycle that reduces costs and improves overall revenue. Under the system, seven types of waste are identified: overproduction, inventory, motion, defects, over-processing, waiting, and transportation.

Summary of Seven Wastes

Although different types of waste have been identified in Lean definitions, the TPS fanatics have been known to question matters. The heads of the MIT Study, Womack and Jones, added another waste of designing and producing products that do not meet customers’ requirements, which could possibly be categorized within Ohno's Inappropriate Processing. Semantics can be discussed, but it is more beneficial to move on and achieve improvement within the organization.

Automotive Assembly of BMW

Solutions for Eliminating Wastes

To eliminate wastes, it is crucial to find simpler solutions for manufacturing, incorporate customer feedback during product design, and remember employees who lead the process for the equipment buying decision. Design floor, guarantee area of the thing, and use value-added flow charts to track product, employee, and data movement.

Executive Summary

Waste is anything other than the minimum amount of equipment, materials, parts, and working time necessary to add value to the product or service. Therefore, the purpose of this presentation is to identify Ohno's 7 wastes and eliminate them with some solutions.

References

EKU Online. (2020). The Seven Wastes of Lean Manufacturing and Their Impacts on the Environment, 5(3), pp. 119-335.

Lean Lab Lean Manufacture. (2019). The Seven Wastes. Available at: http://www.leanlab.name/the-7-wastes [Accessed 20 March 2022].

MG. (2021). Taiichi Ohno’s 7 Wastes. Available at: https://www.mlg.uk.com/html/7w.htm [Accessed 20 March 2022].

Tony. (2015). 7 Wastes: The Seven Muda. Available at: https://toughnickel.com/business/Muda [Accessed 20 March 2022].