The Seven Deadly Wastes

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Seven Deadly Wastes

The main goal of every organization is to make maximum profit. There are many factors to be considered when thinking about how to make the biggest profit. Sales contribute to profit but they account for only a small percentage. There are other ways to increase profitability even before products are available for sale. Muda or waste reduction is one of the most practical ways to increase the profitability for any organization. Muda is a Japanese term which literally means futility; uselessness; idleness; superfluity; waste; wastage; wastefulness also known as the “seven wastes”. Taiichi Ohno, Chief Engineer of Toyota between 1948 and 1975 developed the seven deadly wastes as the center of the Toyota Production System (TPS). Toyota Production System is based on the principles of kaizen, continuous improvement and genchi genbutsu, go to source to find the facts to make correct decisions. The Toyota Production System is the precursor to what we understand today as lean manufacturing. Lean manufacturing goal is the elimination of wastes. In order to eliminate waste one must first understand what it is. In this paper I will briefly go through the seven deadly ways and provide some countermeasures for the seven deadly wastes.

When it comes to the seven wastes overproduction is said to be the leading waste. In it's most simplest terms, overproduction is the act of manufacturing or producing an item or product before it is really necessary. When it comes to manufacturing one might think that producing inventory ahead of time would save time and money but in fact the opposite is true. It is said that overproduction is deadliest of the seven deadly wastes because it contributes or recreates a ripple effect on to th...

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... to first recognize that waste is occurring and then be able to locate the source of the wastefulness. However, lean manufacturing and continuous improvement are the keys to remaining competitive and optimizing returns on investment. It has been a while since the seven deadly wastes have been introduced into business culture. Recently, an eighth waste has been identified. The eighth waste is underutilization of employees according to Lean Thinking. Organizations are underutilizing their staff because they only employ them for a skill or trade inadvertently neglecting that these employees have creative brains that can also be used. These skilled tradespeople are the ones who work on the floor and are the best sources for coming up with ideas to eliminate the seven wastes. It is important to remember that customers pay for value added work and not for wastefulness.

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