4/6/2021 The 7 Wastes of Lean

The 7 Wastes of Lean

The seven wastes of Lean (/improvement-disciplines/lean?hsLang=en) are an integral part of Lean as developed and practiced by Toyota
(/toyota-kata-with-kainexus?hsLang=en). “Waste” can be defined as any activity that does not add value to a customer. In the Lean framework,
something can be considered a value-adding step if the customer is willing to pay for it, if the step transforms the product being produced, and if
it’s done properly the first time.

In manufacturing a car, for example, a value-adding step would include attaching the door. The customer is, of course, willing to pay for a door
and to have it attached properly. There can be a lot of waste associated with the simple action of attaching a door, though, and Lean
manufacturers aim to reduce as much of it as possible.

The cost of waste reduces profit margins and drives up consumer costs, reduces quality, and decreases customer and sta satisfaction.
Eliminating waste has many benefits, including higher-quality goods and services, improved delivery times, happier sta and customers, and
competitive prices.

Download this free eBook to learn about what the wastes are, why they matter, and how to get rid of them.

(https://www.kainexus.com/cs/c/?cta_guid=d63b1e52-61ed-4714-ae48-
d59d5ee6b98d&signature=AAH58kG5rm2BhDw0lYzOrIfgnZfCDFaQ4g&pageId=4058583476&placement_guid=b3d32e45-87f5-4557-865f-
772d99911733&click=509c643b-f281-4b0c-8600-
5772c7eca2 &hsutk=a1047439791759b72f4118acdbd11c40&canon=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.kainexus.com%2Fimprovement-
disciplines%2Flean%2F7-wastes-of-
lean&utm_referrer=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com%2F&portal_id=326641&redirect_url=APefjpECNDT3t7RsnqGtjVGzPloWC1LDzshWkyCyPIGD
WrWP4xPfCbuSDELuc3E8Tim8CmBmJIMAmlIBYrDz1TC3p4t34fYhO3gXJPU6s-
sTfx3_F2BqqvH9d_EMtMYKn5vAm8weFo&__hstc=67527630.a1047439791759b72f4118acdbd11c40.1617716623373.1617716623373.1617716623373
page)

Free Improvement So ware Comparison Matrix

https://www.kainexus.com/improvement-disciplines/lean/7-wastes-of-lean 1/4
4/6/2021 The 7 Wastes of Lean

DOWNLOAD (HTTPS://WWW.KAINEXUS.COM/CS/C/?CTA_GUID=0DD4E659-DD41-4C9E-A736-3DE708F84E61&SIGNATURE=AAH5

1 Motion(HTTPS://WWW.KAINEXUS.COM/CS/C/?CTA_GUID=92CE3525-9D14-40F9-B91D-A59B0E13FEB3&SIGNATURE=AAH58KF
DEMO

Motion waste includes those movements (of machine or employee) which are more complicated or di icult than absolutely necessary.
This kind of waste can cause harm to equipment, product, or employees.

2 Inventory (//blog.kainexus.com/why-its-tempting-to-be-a-hoarder-and-why-lean-organizations-arent?hsLang=en)

Inventory that doesn’t directly fulfill customer needs is excessive, and should be reduced to a level that’s supported by the reliability and
consistency of a process or value stream. Excessive inventory is o en the result a company producing or holding “just in case” inventories,
built or purchased to protect against production downtime, production delays, poor quality, or other problems. These other problems
need to be addressed so that an organization can reduce inventory. Otherwise, an organization will likely get in trouble by cutting
inventories too much if they haven’t first increased the reliability of the supply chain.

The problem with excess inventory is that it increases costs, reduces available storage space, can become damaged, the shelf-life can
expire, and extra resources are needed to manage it.

3 Waiting

The waste of waiting includes any idle time caused by the asynchrony of two or more interdependent processes. Operators and equipment
at one step of the process end up at a standstill waiting for the second process to catch up. Eliminating this waste makes your processes
more e icient, saving you time and money.

4 Defects

The waste of defects includes quality errors that invariably cost you much more than you expect, as each defective product necessitates
more work or replacement, wasting resources and materials, and can lead to lost customers.

5 Overproduction

This can be considered the worst of all the wastes because it leads to other wastes and hides the need for improvement. This waste occurs
when production exceeds customer requirements, which in turn leads to high levels of inventory which, as you will see, hides many of the
problem-areas within your organization. Your goal, therefore, should be to only make what is required when it is required.

6 Transportation

Transportation waste is the movement of materials that does not directly correspond to some value-adding process. This can be very
costly for your business, as you must pay for the time and machines involved in this wasteful process. It should be minimized in order to
reduce delays, reduce the risk of handling-induced damage and eliminate non value added process steps and costs.

7 Overprocessing

Overprocessing waste is putting more work into producing the product than the customer values. To eliminate this waste, your goal should
be to only do the amount of processing which is both useful and necessary and no more.

Every employee in every organization has the ability to identify and eliminate waste in their work. Empowering sta to be change agents by
providing them with the leadership, methodology, and tools they need to improve their work results in a sustainable culture of continuous
improvement.

(http://www.facebook.com/share.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.kainexus.com%2Fimprovement-disciplines%2Flean%2F7-
wastes-of-lean%3Futm_medium%3Dsocial%26utm_source%3Dfacebook) (http://www.linkedin.com/shareArticle?
Free Improvement So ware Comparison Matrix
mini=true&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.kainexus.com%2Fimprovement-disciplines%2Flean%2F7-wastes-of-
https://www.kainexus.com/improvement-disciplines/lean/7-wastes-of-lean 2/4