muda Archives - 6sigma

[VIDEO] Muda Is All About Waste

OpEx Learning Team — Fri, 28 Feb 2025 06:16:20 +0000

Muda is all about waste and Lean manufacturing is about eliminating Muda. It is any activity that adds no real value to the product or service being created or delivered. The diligent attention to the elimination of waste in how work is performed is a fundamental tenet of Lean manufacturing, the operational excellence strategy that was developed over many years and is widely used in business today.

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Elimination of Muda is the Key to Efficiency

OpEx Learning Team — Fri, 28 Feb 2025 06:16:19 +0000

Muda means waste and refers to a wide range of non-value-adding activities; eliminating waste is the key to efficiency. When you look at the Toyota Production System (TPS), eliminating Muda waste is one of the main principles of the Just-in-Time system. Some things that are considered waste are unnecessary financing costs, storage costs and worthless stock of old items. Toyota divides Muda into seven categories:

Transportation – increases risk of product being damaged, lost or delayed.
Inventory – Outlay of capital that doesn’t immediately produce income.
Motion – Damage inflicted through the production process.
Waiting – Product sitting idle.
Over-processing – Doing more work than is necessary.
Over-production – Making more product than is required by the customer.
Defects – Replacing faulty parts or products.

Processes consumes resources and naturally, waste can occur. The more resources that are used, the more opportunity exists for waste. The tools of Lean manufacturing and the TPS help focus on the elimination of Muda waste and create a heightened awareness. Understanding exactly what waste exists and where it is exists is crucial to any Lean manufacturing process. Even though products differ between manufacturing organizations, lean practitioners understand that the types of wastes are very similar.

Before you can stop waste in any operation, you should able to see it, recognize it as waste, identify who is responsible, and finally appreciate its size and magnitude. Waste that is not seen cannot be eliminated. When something is denied as waste, it also cannot be stopped. When you refuse to accept responsibility for the waste, then you will not eliminate it. Of course, when the waste is not measured, you will not be motivated to stop it. What is not measured, is not improved.

According to Taiichi Ohno, the creator of the Toyota Production System, there is one, straightforward goal of the system, which is the absolute elimination of waste. If clearly understood, this simple sentence carries all information required to grasp the essence of the lean philosophy.

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[VIDEO] Consider the 3 Categories of Waste

OpEx Learning Team — Fri, 28 Feb 2025 06:14:22 +0000

Muda is the direct obstacle of flow. There are 7 distinctive types of Muda which all lead to waiting times, and therefore longer lead times in a process. Simply taking out the Muda does not work. Usually, there is a reason why the Muda is there and this reason often has to do with the other two enemies: Muri and Mura. This means there are three enemies of lean and they are interrelated, and should therefore be considered simultaneously. Instead of just looking at the traditional 7 wastes of Muda, it is incumbent to consider instead the three categories of waste used by TPS (Toyota Production System).

Take a few moments and watch this educational video.

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5S System: Eliminating the Elusive Muda, Mura and Muri

OpEx Learning Team — Fri, 28 Feb 2025 06:05:53 +0000

Waste is any step or action in a process that is not required to complete a process successfully. When waste is removed, only the steps that are required to deliver a satisfactory product or service to the customer remain in the process. Customers would not be happy to pay for any action that we take that does not add value to what they actually want and nor should we be.

Identifying and Eliminating Waste

The purpose of Lean manufacturing is to find and eliminate muda, mura, and muri, in order to improve quality, safety, and efficiency. The best way to identify these types of waste are to understand what they are:

1. Muda – These activities don’t add value. They do not help your organization or your workers in any way. Overproduction, over processing, inventory, transportation, motion, waiting and defects. If you want to reduce costs, finding and eliminating muda is essential.

2. Mura – This type of waste is caused by the unevenness in services or production. When standards are non-existent or not followed, mura occurs. This shows up as variation, or times when work is overloaded, and other times when nothing is going on. The goal is to make the work more consistent and predictable as much as possible, so the resources can be properly aligned. This will also reduce the next type, Muri.

3. Muri – This is the result of processes that are excessively difficult or overburdening for employees. When there is a lack of training, no standards established, or they are trying to use the wrong tool for the job, Muri can occur. Think about a machine that is running all the time, and there is no time to stop and perform maintenance. Think about that employee who continually works overtime, and the stress of the job will end up making them sick, or they will quit. Neither the employee or the machine can continue at that pace, and when they break, things will get really bad. If you identify Muri in your process, it is recommended to work on those wastes first!

Muda, mura and muri can be eliminated or signifcantly reduced if you implement various lean tools and principles. Don’t just rush in to try and highlight and remove the muda in the hope of making a quick impression. Those changes will be short lived successes. Without tackling mura and muri, you will find muda returning to challenge you.

Using the 5s Tool for Success

One Lean tool that can help you eliminate these forms of waste is the 5S system. 5S helps to declutter, clean, and organize the workplace using the five S principles: sort, set in order, shine, standardize, and sustain. It is a systematic and methodical approach allowing teams to organize their workplace in the safest and most efficient manner.

Download the free 5S and Visual Factory 45-page training packet >>>

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Taiichi Ohno: Contributions to Process Improvement

OpEx Learning Team — Sun, 27 Jan 2019 16:03:53 +0000

Taiichi Ohno, popularly known as the pioneer of the Toyota Production System was born in Dalian, China in 1912. He graduated from the Nagoya Technical High School in Japan and joined Toyoda Spinning in 1932. He joined the Toyota Motor Company as a shop-floor supervisor in the year 1943 and rose to the position of an executive.

In the early 1950s, Ohno, then working as an assembly manager in Toyota, developed significant improvements that eventually took the shape of the Toyota Production System (TPS). Toyota was on the verge of becoming bankrupt and was not in a position to afford large investments in major inventories or equipment. In the 1950s, a major collaboration with Shigeo Shingo started and further refinement in the direction of framing an integrated manufacturing strategy took shape.

The Rise of Toyota Production System

The oil crisis of 1973 hit Japan just as it affected America and Europe. By 1974, Japan’s economy collapsed and crashed to a state of zero. At the Toyota Motor Company, profits witnessed a downfall; however, greater earnings were reported and sustained in 1975, 1976, and 1977 as compared to other Japanese companies.

The huge gap between Toyota and other Japanese companies resulted in the other firms in Japan adopting the Toyota Production System, and began spreading its roots rapidly in the country.

Ohno’s success resulted in his career acceleration from an Assembly Shop Manager to the Executive Vice President in 1975. He retired from Toyota in the early 1980s and joined the Toyota subsidiary and supplier, Toyota Gosei, as the President.

Ohno strongly believed that “Having no problems is the biggest problem of all.” He stated that problems are not the cause of worry; rather it is a Kaizen opportunity to improvise and grow. He also stressed that each problem has to be seen without any set of preconceived notions.

Taiichi Ohno: Contribution to Six Sigma & Lean Manufacturing

Ohno was strongly of the opinion that waste & inefficiency are the two major reasons why Toyota’s production was suffering. He personally took charge of the elimination of wastes and reducing the inefficiency in the production area.

His efforts finally took the shape of the Toyota Production System. Ohno’s principles influenced people in the areas outside of manufacturing, including the service arena.

Ohno also played an instrumental role in identifying ways by which organizations identify waste with his model known as the Seven Wastes which forms the core of many academic studies to date.

A Muda’ is a Japanese term that stands for any entity that doesn’t have any further value and should be eliminated from the organization without any further delay. It is critical to examine the values that each activity contributes to the organization and identifying those that do not contribute any value. After reaching this point it is easier to see what it is that the customer pays for. Organizations can then start working on the elimination of waste. These seven wastes are as follows:

Any time wasted in delays or waiting in the queue with no value addition
The production is more than the demand
Resources (physical or material) being wasted in a non-strategical activity
Unorganized or unplanned transportation
Unplanned movements or motion
Non-utilized inventory
The defects, for the inspection of the inventory, cost time and money

A few parts of the Toyota Production System are frequently used in the United States such as kanban (the tagging/signal in JIT stock control system), jidoka (the injection of quality), and muda (the elimination of waste).

Conclusions

Taiichi stated that progress cannot be possible if one stays happy with the present conditions. He took the elimination of the inefficiency in Toyota as his personal goal and kept working until he devised the well-known Toyota Production system.

He was very proactive in removing defects and unusable stock from any organization. He devised seven categories of wastes through which organizations can easily proceed with systemic waste removal from their businesses. His contributions have made Toyota a world-renowned organization with respect to quality excellence.

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[VIDEO] The Tale of the Seven Wastes

OpEx Learning Team — Tue, 18 Dec 2018 01:36:43 +0000

The elimination of waste in processes is one of the most effective ways to increase the profitability of any business. Processes either add value or waste to the production of a good or service. There are seven wastes or ‘muda,’ and the tool was first developed by Taiichi Ohno and make up the core of the Toyota Production System (TPS). Take some time and learn more about the seven wastes, lean and the TPS.

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Eliminate Operating Expense with Lean Six Sigma

admin — Thu, 11 May 2017 17:00:43 +0000

Your relationships with your customers are critical to the success of your business. Because without them, you won’t have a business. As such, when unforeseeable factors, or even factors that you can prevent, damage your customer relationships, eliminate the problem immediately. If you don’t, you’re likely to experience further problems that snowball until they become out of control. Muda (waste) is one such problem that can accumulate over time, bogging down your production, and holding you back. Lean Six Sigma can help you here. Lean methods can help you eliminate none-value-adding processes that needlessly consume resources. By eliminating waste as soon as you find it, you can reduce costs in the long-term. Your operating expenses can quickly become inflated if left unmanaged, which is why Lean Six Sigma is the solution for you. Today we look at how you can use LSS to eliminate needless operating expense.

Lean Six Sigma Wastes

There are many types of waste to look out for, that could be holding you back, and hindering your process speed. This, in turn, will prevent you from delivering the best quality products, which can lead to loss of revenue. Waste tends to vary from business to business, but the same types always seem to appear. E.g. waste from human waste, overproduction, movement, none-value-adding process stages, and so on. If you don’t eliminate your useless factors immediately, then your company will struggle to grow. However, don’t target just one issue, as this is often not enough to make a lasting improvement. Focus on multiple areas, improving each gradually, as opposed to one area completely. Remember, improving everything by 1% is far more effective than improving one area by 100%.

Value Stream Mapping

One of the most effective tools in Lean Six Sigma is value stream mapping. You can use VSM to identify any useless factors that may be lurking out of view. Once you identify the issue, you can use root cause analysis to find the underlying cause of the issue. This allows you to then correct the problem and devise potential improvements.

Value stream mapping is particularly useful as you can achieve a greater understanding of where errors come from and why. Once you know what the problem is, you can examine the causes and effects of the issue. Again, this will help identify and eliminate the root cause so you can streamline your operations. That way, you’ll cut your overall costs down to the essentials, saving money, and increasing your profits. Don’t underestimate value stream mapping. It can help you solve problems and come up with preventative measures to stop the same issues arising in the future.

Once you know what the problem is, you can examine the causes and effects of the issue. Again, this will help identify and eliminate the root cause so you can streamline your operations. That way, you’ll cut your overall costs down to the essentials, saving money, and increasing your profits. Don’t underestimate value stream mapping. It can help you solve problems and come up with preventative measures to stop the same issues arising in the future.

The Most Visible Waste: Human Waste

Human waste is one of the most visible types of Lean waste. It is responsible for many companies failing to realize their goals, as well as for low employee performance. Lean Six Sigma businesses require strong teamwork to function. If one piece of the machine slacks, it will affect everything else. Your organization must be tight to succeed. Techniques like balanced scorecards can help you identify the employees that consistently underperform. You can then either administer further training to resolve the issue, and prevent further losses, or let them go to cut costs. They may even simply not be suited to their area of work. You wouldn’t have a rocket scientist mopping floors, so, instead, find something else more suited to their abilities.

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Glossary of Six Sigma Terms: Letters M – O

admin — Sun, 23 Apr 2017 22:05:13 +0000

M

MANOVA in Six Sigma.

The acronym MANOVA stands for Multiple Analysis of Variance. It is a type of multivariate analysis. While it may sound similar to ANOVA at first, MANOVA deals with multiple outputs instead of just one. In MANOVA, be sure to correlate your outputs according to your data. If you don’t properly correlate your outputs, then you will need to use a separate ANOVA analysis for each one. While ANOVA typically deals with only one input factor, MANOVA may have several. MANOVA is useful in Six Sigma practices as you can carry out several ANOVA analyses at once. If you do, however, and the factors don’t correlate, you will be more likely to discover a Type I error. There are some who prefer ANOVA over multiple pairwise t-tests, but both have their upsides. Black Belts practice MANOVA most often.

Measurement Systems Analysis.

There are many measurement systems in Six Sigma, all of which take variation and error into account. When you measure a characteristic in measurement systems analysis, your recorded readings will include measurement errors found. It can be difficult to notice the finer details of measurement systems analysis, with some results overlooked altogether. When this happens, Six Sigma practitioners tend to assume the measurements reflect the characteristic’s true value. This leads to further confusion, resulting in unproductive process improvement solutions.
You should remember that Six Sigma demands accurate, justifiable data to be able to function at all. Six Sigma work relies on strong data to make educated decisions for process improvement. You may end up trying to improve process variation when the source of that variation is in your measurement system. This is where measuring systems analysis comes in, as it allows you to set the groundwork for statistical process control and experimental design. Six Sigma practitioners working with data and statistics will use measurement systems analysis when your measurements become faulty.

Muda.

In Lean and Lean Six Sigma, Muda is a Japanese term meaning ‘waste.’ It is a term every Lean Six Sigma practitioner should know, as it is your job to identify, eliminate, and prevent waste from accumulating. There are seven varieties of waste that appear in manufacturing. Overproduction (when a process is overworked for no added value, wasting time, effort, and resources). Waiting (when production delays unnecessarily). Transporting (when transportation of products takes an excessive amount of time). Inappropriate processing (when a process or task is performed incorrectly, leading to confusion, fault, and other problems). Unnecessary inventory (when your resources accumulate without being used, often wasting funds). Unnecessary and excess motion (when none-value-adding tasks slow down production). Defect (when products are faulty).

N

Natural Process Limits.

In Six Sigma and Lean, natural process limits are a way to measure variation in processes. You should arrange them at plus and minus three standard deviations from your goal. Therefore, provided the process is constant and unchanging, around 99.7% of your process output should land within your natural process limits. If, however, your natural tolerance limits are also within your specification limits, then the Cp value will be higher than 1. Your specification limits are essential to determining whether a process is capable of meeting specifications on a regular basis.
You can define specification limits as confining dimensions of a characteristic, usually imposed by the consumer or the producer. It is up to the supplier to make certain the process can meet the specifications per the required process capability value. Cp values are one of the several indices used to predict performance. Specification limits and Cp values go hand in hand with natural process limits. Any Six Sigma Belt or Lean practitioner involved in process improvement will be familiar with these concepts.

Nominal Group Technique.

There are many teamwork tools in Six Sigma, one of which is nominal group technique. NGT allows you to create a short list of items that need to be acted on, very much like a ‘to do list.’ In team activities, Black Belts assume responsibility and administer tasks to complete. They will use nominal group technique as part of their project preparation. There are two stages when using nominal group technique.

Stage 1: Ensure that everyone understands the purpose of your proposed activity. Why are you doing this? What are the benefits? This is important as NGT, like Six Sigma, relies on completely comprehensive team effort. You should also make sure that each group member works in silence, writing down ideas for tasks and responsibilities. The Black Belt will supervise the task. Then, once everyone has finished, your Black Belt should direct a discussion of everyone’s ideas. It’s important to provide time for clarification and understanding so that everyone knows how the project will proceed.

Stage 2: Now you need to come up with a shortlist of tasks and ideas, ensuring it is a practical size. Then, hand out index cards to your group members, one for every five ideas listed. Have them write down one idea choice per card, ranking them in order of preference and Finally, you should summarize everyone’s scores on a flip pad or whiteboard. Work towards a unanimous agreement on which ideas you should use.

O

OC Curve.

Your OC curve is your operating characteristic curve. Six Sigma Green Belts use the OC curve in sampling inspection to plot the probability of accepting faulty product batches. Or at least one that goes against the batch’s standard quality level. You can also use your OC to determine the average run length in control charts. Operating characteristics are important sources of information in statistical Six Sigma work.
For example, imagine you have an operating characteristic curve for a sample of 50 items out of 2000. When using the critical acceptance number ‘c’ of 2, this means a batch will be accepted with two or fewer defective items in your sample. From your operating curve, you can determine a probability percentage for accepting batches with defective items. Similarly, when creating your sample plan, be sure to decide on two points. The AQL and LQL, as well as the associated Producer’s and Consumer’s Risks, are also important here.

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Lean or Six Sigma? Which is Which?

admin — Wed, 05 Apr 2017 11:15:11 +0000

Do you know your Lean from your Six Sigma? How about your PDCA vs. DMAIC? If not, then today’s article will provide you with everything you need to know! We look at the fundamental differences between Lean principles and Six Sigma methodology. We also look at the different focuses, tools, and techniques of each. So join us as we ask, Lean or Six Sigma? Which is which?

What Does Lean Focus On?

Lean focuses on reducing the eight types of waste (Muda). Defects, overproduction, waiting, non-utilized talent, waste from transportation, inventory waste, waste from motion, unnecessary processing. Additionally, Lean principles aim to reduce waste by identifying and eliminating it. Lean also improves production by maximizing flow and identifying non-value-adding steps you should remove. Anything that does not add value for the customer is a potential threat to production. As such, Lean uses a holistic approach that aims to build a culture of continuous improvement and in-depth analysis.

Lean Principles, Tools, and Techniques

PDCA. Standing for Plan, Do, Check, Act, PDCA is a rapid cycle-based strategy used to drive process improvement.

5S is a 5-step method for creating and maintaining an intuitive and efficient workplace. The 5 Ss stand for Sort, Set In Order, Shine, Standardize, Sustain.

8 Types of Waste. Lean aims to eliminate the eight waste types: defects, overproduction, waiting, non-utilized talent, waste from transportation, inventory waste, waste from motion, and unnecessary

Value Stream Maps. VSMs are a visual method for displaying the key process steps in production.

Flow is the unhindered movement of a process.

Pull describes how customer demand is used to dictate process flow, i.e. what the customer wants, or might want, determines what a company produces.

What does Six Sigma Focus On?

Six Sigma and Lean share many similarities. As such, they complement each other very well. However, Six Sigma focuses primarily on reducing variation, just one of the seven types of waste Lean tackles. Six Sigma is used to complete improvement projects, aimed at solving process issues. It is also highly data-oriented, involving validation of hypotheses using statistics. Six Sigma knowledge is classified using a belt-based hierarchy styled on martial arts (Yellow, Green, Black, and Master Black Belt). The higher the belt, the more adept you are at using Six Sigma. Furthermore, one of Six Sigma’s primary tools is a 5-step method with which to complete improvement projects.

Six Sigma Ideas, Tools, and Techniques

DMAIC. This 5-step method uses the following steps, Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve, and Control to improve production processes. Furthermore, DMAIC also allows you to identify the problem and develop creative solutions through deep analysis.

Project Charter. Six Sigma uses a single-page document to outline the process issue, project goal, scope, and a timeline. Moreover, the charter forms an essential framework for the trajectory of an improvement project.

Pareto Chart. Pareto Charts display information about potential causes of process issues in a cascading bar chart format. Additionally, you should also organize problems from largest to smallest.

Hypothesis Testing. Hypothesis Testing is a way of providing statistical precision to root causes of process problems, so you can make the best decisions.

Design of Experiments. Methods of controlled testing, with which to assess how efficient processes are. DoE also allows you to select the best conditions, materials, and methods for each.

Statistical Process Control. SPC enables you to monitor your processes, ensuring they consistently satisfy customer demand.

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What Are You Doing for the Rest of Your Life?

admin — Sun, 05 Mar 2017 17:02:25 +0000

In Six Sigma, there is a natural order of processes that just make sense. These processes are done in such a way as to eliminate waste (or “Muda,” which is the Japanese word for waste). In theory, by the time you reach a certain age, your career resume should have that same natural order in the sequence of the different jobs you have had.

For example, if you are a nurse, perhaps you started off as an entry-level nurse and moved up to a staff nurse in a surgical unit. Of course, each level up has education and training behind it. That being said, those who have this type of focused resume usually have a goal end in mind from the very start.

Very much like Six Sigma, when you start a project, you must state why the project is needed and what you hope to accomplish at the end of the project. This is done at the very beginning of the DMAIC process, in the “Define” portion.

Unfortunately, many people in the job force have careers that happen by default, because nothing was planned out at the very beginning, when their entire future was before them.

Every Person Has the Perfect Career Waiting for Them

All it would take would be a concerted effort on behalf of our educational system to develop programs that would help young people develop their strengths as well as pique their curiosity so that a “default” career or job won’t happen.

One exception to the rule would be if the unrelated job is at the end of their resume. That could indicate that they finally found their passion!

Perhaps if certain preliminary steps would have been taken at the beginning of a career path, then everyone would be happy in their current jobs/career, and the average resume would be Six Sigma perfection!

Get more information on our Six Sigma courses and services.

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Let’s Get Lean: An Lean Introduction Six Sigma

admin — Thu, 02 Feb 2017 15:00:27 +0000

Now you are here, let us get the introductions out of the way. What is Lean Six Sigma? It is a uniquely customer-focused strategy for process improvement. It uses management techniques specifically designed to reduce the probability of error and defect, while improving business performance. Why do we like it? Because it’s lean.

Lean Six Sigma combines Lean manufacturing and enterprise with Six Sigma. The objective is eliminating the eight kinds of waste (also known as Muda) that plague businesses. Let’s quickly recap what the Muda are:

Muda

Inventory;
Waiting;
Transportation;
Motion;
Over-production;
Over-processing;
defects;
Skills.

Lean Six Sigma is a relies on team-based effort to improve a business’s performance, systematically eliminating waste in addition to implementing innovative measures for process improvement.

Collaborate!

Lean Six Sigma relies on collaboration to be truly beneficial. There are several tiers of awareness and training, called Belts, for you to consider for your staff. Each Belt has its own skillset and focuses on particular elements of Lean manufacturing, enterprise, and Six Sigma.

Belts?

What are the belts? They follow a system similar (but not the same) as Karate. The idea is that flexing your Six Sigma skill set makes you, consequently, proficient in the martial arts of process improvement!

Basic training gets you a Yellow Belt, while Green Belts will be also trained to focus on tools usage, DMAIC, and Lean principles application. Black Belts are more experienced and generally act as full-time project leaders. They often have several years’ experience and most likely have contributed to many projects. Finally, the highest tier, MBB (or Master Black Belt, to the uninitiated), is a Black Belt with several years’ experience in addition to being qualified to teach Six Sigma.

You can learn more about training options here if you are interested.

Get Started!

How do you get started? Firstly, you need to have a valid reason to use Lean Six Sigma methodology when working with a business to improve their production processes. You need a Burning Platform, which establishes the necessity for using Lean principles. This is your reason (or ‘why’) for which something is done, and it should, therefore, represent the goals you have set.

An example of a valid reason would be if your company were suffering high-profit losses on account of defective products as a result of variation in the components used to make those products. Rather than relying on ‘gut feelings’, you can systematically correct this by identifying problem areas and resolving them.

Get Organised!

Remember to organise your resources properly and use them effectively. We recommend training one or more staff members in Six Sigma strategy. Remember, the more you invest, the better your outcome, because by investing in staff training you will have your own dedicated practitioners. This approach ensures your business maintains current success and continues to achieve more in the future.

You may be aware of the individual benefits of Lean and Six Sigma methodologies but when combined their rewards are multiplied. Most of all, it adds value to any business. Lean Six Sigma is the answer you and many companies around the world have been searching for to aid process improvement and help you deliver excellent services for your customers.

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7 Reasons Your Business is Losing Money

admin — Sun, 22 May 2016 01:57:23 +0000

If you find your company is losing money, the solution may be in one of the best kept secrets: Lean Six Sigma tools! These tools transcend in excellence and are poised to fix many of today’s maladies, in business — and even in our personal lives.

The Road to Waste is Filled with Good Intentions

Being wasteful wears many disguises. Perhaps you buy extra items you don’t need because it is on sale. So in the guise of saving money, you spend more money.

Now, you may have excess items you have to find space for, causing you to waste more time looking for something you need, because of the excess items you bought. Who knows if you will still use those extra items in the future.

Lean Six Sigma describes waste as anything that does NOT add value to your product or service or life.

7 Categories of Waste in the Value Stream (and 7 Reasons Your Business is Losing Money)

Transport: Any movement of product or material that isn’t necessary.
Waiting: For any reason, where a worker’s hands are idle is considered waste.
Overproduction: Producing more than your customer requires will create an imbalance in inventory as well as production costs.
Defects: Any corrections, repairs, and rejects that have to be made, because product that does not meet specifications is considered waste.
Inventory: Any inventory in the value stream is considered waste, because it is not adding value to the actual product.
Motion or Movement: Any movement of your staff that does not add value to the product’s manufacturing. This is excess walking, bending, twisting, and reaching that wouldn’t be needed if better placement were implemented.
Extra Processing: That which does NOT add value to the actual product. This would include quality prevention or in-processing protective packaging.

Type Muda 1 & Type Muda 2

Some of these wastes are deemed necessary for other reasons such as regulatory obligations, accounting requirements or just the nature of things. It is for this reason that Lean Six Sigma came up with the two separate categories of wastes: Type 1 Muda and Type 2 Muda.

Type 1 Muda: These are actions that do not add value, but are deemed necessary. This type of waste cannot be eliminated right away.

Type 2 Muda: These are actions that do not add value and are also not necessary, so these would be the first ones we eliminate.

Learn more information about 6Sigma.com’s Lean Six Sigma training coursework, available as classroom, onsite, or online options.

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Floor Marking Tape for 5S: Muda, Kaizen, or Kanban?

admin — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 11:34:28 +0000

Floor Marking Tape for 5S is the topic of this article.

We’re pleased to have Cliff Lowe as a guest blogger today and for him to share his thoughts with us on what many of us take for granted: floor visual management and the importance of that type of communication design for lean manufacturing. Enjoy his article and read more about Cliff after the article.

My best customers are from companies that practice Lean Manufacturing. So I started to ask, what is it about Superior Mark floor tape that these Lean guys love so much? I had tested my tape thoroughly and knew that it was the most durable on the market. Was it the durability? Or was there something more?

I started to research Lean and learned enough to understand the reasons why Superior Mark made so much sense in a Lean Manufacturing environment. It came down to three core concepts: Muda, Kaizen, and Kanban.

Every industrial workplace is required by OSHA to clearly mark aisles and passageways to guarantee that pedestrians have a designated walkway to safely pass. Forklift drivers must also be keenly aware of where their driving lanes begin and end. There are various ways to clearly mark, but as we consider the most common method, painting, keep in mind muda, kaizen, and kanban. Let’s take an in depth look at the entire life cycle of a painted line on an industrial floor.

Paint does not like to stick to concrete, and so in order to use paint to mark a line, the floor must usually be prepped by bead blasting or etching to rough up the surface so that the paint will have something to grab.

In order to paint a nice line, two lines of tape are typically applied to create a clean border for the paint. The section of the facility is shut down to allow the paint to dry completely, which is usually several hours. Then both lines of tape must be removed. The entire process could take a few days and require areas of production to be shut down.

In industrial facilities, floor markings almost always need to be maintained. Due to the abusive environment, we have to consider the cost of any repair or maintenance that will be involved. In order to maintain a painted line to keep it bright and visible, basically the whole process has to be repeated.

If there was an alternative aisle marking method to painting, which eliminated the expensive floor prep, the extra taping, the shut down time, then the process of painting would be considered muda in comparison. Waste can be found in almost any process. When it comes to floor marking, consider the waste that can be incurred not only in the initial installation, but in the long term maintenance of the floor marking.

Now, about Kaizen, or continuous improvement, which is a key tenet of Lean Initiatives. When a certain floor layout is designed in a Lean facility, it is designed with Kaizen in mind. Everyone is encouraged to always look for ways in which the layout can be improved. Hence the placement of objects inside the factory is never permanent. Marking the floor should ideally be done in a way that could be easily and quickly modified when a Kaizen burst or great idea arises that could improve efficiency. Painting lines does not allow for this flexibility, but using a removable floor tape does.

Finally, a well thought out floor marking design can create the equivalent of a giant Kanban board. Sometimes it is difficult to clearly identify the WIP or Work In Progress Limits. The limits of the production capacity for an industrial facility have a limiting factor, and sometimes that limiting factor is space. Floor marking tape can visually organize the space to highlight the physical limitations. The best example of this I have seen from one of my customers was in an auto body shop. They had learned about creating a visual workplace, and had been applying Lean and 5S concepts to their garage, in an effort to make better use of their space. Once they installed clear delineating floor markings, they discovered that they actually had the space to work on twice as many cars as they previously could.

The method that a company selects to mark their industrial floors can have ripple effects on their overall operational efficiency. Choosing a method that is flexible (i.e. removable, and installs fast) yet very durable and long lasting, is the best bet for maximum operational efficiency.

About Cliff Lowe:

Cliff holds two patents in traffic marking materials and is the creator of Superior Mark aislemarking tape. He is the owner of InSite Solutions LLC and Stop Painting.com. When he is not busy perfecting the design of traffic marking materials, he enjoys spending time with his wife and three kids.

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