Eliminating 'muda'
(Published on 2 October 2007 in 'Women at Work' - W @ W - a supplement of the Daily Mirror, Colombo, Sri Lanka)
As a Miss Know-All I need to keep abreast with new terms and terminologies. It was with great interest that I heard the younger generation use the word – ‘Muda.’ Never heard that one before. Looking at my perplexed and confounded expression – my young and considerate companion whispered – “muda means waste.”
Waste? What kind of waste? Can any waste be called muda?
Muda is defined as waste, where waste is anything or any activity that does not add value. It is a term that is commonly used in management circles. Reducing or eliminating muda is the fundamental objective of a good quality-oriented manager. Muda is one of the '3Ms': muda, or waste, mura, meaning irregular, uneven or inconsistent, and muri, meaning unreasonable or excessive strain.
Taichi Ohno of Toyota identified and described aptly the seven mudas – or in other words the seven wastes:
Waste from overproduction
Often goes unnoticed as overproduction is seen as work happening. But it leads to excess inventory, handling, storage, machinery wear and tear, staff costs and overhead.
Processing waste
Additional effort is required if a process is not properly thought through. This can lead to multiple wastes – manpower waste, time waste and resource waste.
Inventory waste
Excess buffer stocks can also result in a whole lot of waste. Getting it right and maintaining minimum required stocks is the solution to avoid a total breakdown.
Waste of time in waiting
People waste a lot of time waiting for a response from the other. They are often waiting for one another. This could happen because they have objectives that are not aligned.
Transportation waste
Poor arrangement and lack of proper planning can lead to things being moved multiple times. If things are not placed in the right place, they can be hard to find. This can aggravate a complete lapse of processes.
Waste of motion
This includes movement of people, from simple actions when in one place to geographic movement from one place to the other. Having everything easily accessible reduces motion muda.
Waste from product defects
Any defect causes duplication of effort besides upheaval in a set routine or synchronised set of processes and systems.
Laws, rules, formulas, principles make no sense to me unless I look at it from a practical point of view. Let us bring the 7 Muda principles within the four walls of the kitchen… Whether, waste from overproduction, waste of time in waiting, transportation waste processing waste, inventory waste, waste of motion, waste from product defects – all these are things that our grandmothers firmly believed in and practiced in their kitchens.
The best managers run kitchens and homes. For centuries housewives have been eliminating muda and increasing efficiency and productivity.
Miss Know-All
miss.know.all@gmail.com
As a Miss Know-All I need to keep abreast with new terms and terminologies. It was with great interest that I heard the younger generation use the word – ‘Muda.’ Never heard that one before. Looking at my perplexed and confounded expression – my young and considerate companion whispered – “muda means waste.”
Waste? What kind of waste? Can any waste be called muda?
Muda is defined as waste, where waste is anything or any activity that does not add value. It is a term that is commonly used in management circles. Reducing or eliminating muda is the fundamental objective of a good quality-oriented manager. Muda is one of the '3Ms': muda, or waste, mura, meaning irregular, uneven or inconsistent, and muri, meaning unreasonable or excessive strain.
Taichi Ohno of Toyota identified and described aptly the seven mudas – or in other words the seven wastes:
Waste from overproduction
Often goes unnoticed as overproduction is seen as work happening. But it leads to excess inventory, handling, storage, machinery wear and tear, staff costs and overhead.
Processing waste
Additional effort is required if a process is not properly thought through. This can lead to multiple wastes – manpower waste, time waste and resource waste.
Inventory waste
Excess buffer stocks can also result in a whole lot of waste. Getting it right and maintaining minimum required stocks is the solution to avoid a total breakdown.
Waste of time in waiting
People waste a lot of time waiting for a response from the other. They are often waiting for one another. This could happen because they have objectives that are not aligned.
Transportation waste
Poor arrangement and lack of proper planning can lead to things being moved multiple times. If things are not placed in the right place, they can be hard to find. This can aggravate a complete lapse of processes.
Waste of motion
This includes movement of people, from simple actions when in one place to geographic movement from one place to the other. Having everything easily accessible reduces motion muda.
Waste from product defects
Any defect causes duplication of effort besides upheaval in a set routine or synchronised set of processes and systems.
Laws, rules, formulas, principles make no sense to me unless I look at it from a practical point of view. Let us bring the 7 Muda principles within the four walls of the kitchen… Whether, waste from overproduction, waste of time in waiting, transportation waste processing waste, inventory waste, waste of motion, waste from product defects – all these are things that our grandmothers firmly believed in and practiced in their kitchens.
The best managers run kitchens and homes. For centuries housewives have been eliminating muda and increasing efficiency and productivity.
Miss Know-All
miss.know.all@gmail.com
posted by Sangeeta Rana @ 8:17 AM
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