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KKM-7 Wastes of Lean Manufacturing PDF
KKM-7 Wastes of Lean Manufacturing PDF
The seven wastes of Lean Manufacturing are what we are aiming to remove from our processes
by removing the causes of Mura and Muri as well as tackling Muda directly. But what exactly
are the seven wastes of Lean Manufacturing (or 7 Mudas)?
The Seven Wastes of Lean Manufacturing are:
• Transport
• Inventory
• Motion
• Waiting
• Over-Processing
• Overproduction
• Defects
For a more in depth discussion of each waste including causes, examples, and potential solutions
click the links within each description.
How to Remember the 7 Wastes
There are a couple of Simple Mnemonics that you can use to help you remember the 7 Wastes.
The first is to ask yourself “Who is TIM WOOD?”
TIMWOOD
1. Transport
2. Inventory
3. Motion
4. Waiting
5. Over Processing
6. Over Production
7. Defects
TimWood comes from Standard-Cooper in the UK where I first started my career as a young
Quality Engineer in the Automotive Industry. It is now probably the most recognized way of
remembering the seven wastes.
An alternative is
WORMPIT;
1. Waiting
2. Over Production
3. Rejects
4. Motion
5. Processing
6. Inventory
7. Transport
Using either TIMWOOD or WORMPIT will help you to remember your seven wastes, very
useful if you are training others and have to list them out on a board.
What exactly is Waste?
The simplest way to describe waste is as “Something that adds no Value.” Our 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.
Would you be happy if you received a bill in a restaurant that included a meal that was prepared
in error? No; you would argue and demand that it was removed from your bill; yet if you buy a
product in a store the price that you pay will contain costs that you would not want to pay.
Would you want to pay for the machine operators wages whilst they sat idle waiting for a
delivery, or for the rework processes that had to be undertaken because the machine was
incorrectly set, or even for storing your product for three months before it was delivered to the
store? These wastes are included within the cost of your products, either inflating the price you
pay or reducing the profit of the company.
Over producing what the customer does not want now is a waste
This is usually because of working with oversize batches, long lead times, poor supplier relations
and a host of other reasons. Overproduction leads to high levels of inventory which mask many
of the problems within your organization. The aim should be to make only what is required when
it is required by the customer, the philosophy of Just in Time (JIT), however many companies
work on the principle of Just in Case!