TUM School of Management

Production and Supply Chain Management

Prof Martin Grunow Technische Universität München

The 3Ms

Jon Woolfrey
Faculty of Engineering &
Information Technology (FEIT),
University of Technology Sydney (UTS)

Jon Woolfrey 1
 TUM School of Management
Production and Supply Chain Management
Prof Martin Grunow Technische Universität München

Learning Objectives
• Define the 3Ms.
• Give examples of the 3Ms in work processes.

Jon Woolfrey 2
 TUM School of Management
Production and Supply Chain Management
Prof Martin Grunow Technische Universität München

Mura
The 3 Ms of Lean (Inconsistency)
uneven, irregular, erratic,
inconsistent

Muri
(Overburden)
unreasonable, impossible,
excessive

Muda
(Waste)
futile, useless,
pointless

Jon Woolfrey 3
 TUM School of Management
Production and Supply Chain Management
Prof Martin Grunow Technische Universität München

Mura (Inconsistency) Mura

(Inconsistency)
uneven, irregular, erratic,
• Uneven customer demand inconsistent
• Uneven distribution of work load
• Inconsistent quality of supplies and tools
• Irregular scheduling of work

• Effort to overcome Mura = Muri (overburden)

• Periods of low activity = Muda (waste)

Jon Woolfrey 4
 TUM School of Management
Production and Supply Chain Management
Prof Martin Grunow Technische Universität München

Muri (Overburden) Muri

(Overburden)
unreasonable, impossible,
• People working too fast or hard to excessive
keep up with demand
• People working long hours to make
up for lost time
• Running machines too fast to meet
production targets
• Overloading machines to get more
from them
• Skipping maintenance to reduce
downtime

Work smarter, not harder!

Jon Woolfrey 5
 TUM School of Management
Production and Supply Chain Management
Prof Martin Grunow Technische Universität München

Muda (Waste) Muda

(Waste)
• Any activity that doesn’t produce futile, useless,
pointless
value for the customer
• The 7 Wastes:
Transport
Inventory
Motion
Waiting
Over-processing
Overproduction
Defects

Muri
(Overburden)

Safety
Jon Woolfrey 6
 TUM School of Management
Production and Supply Chain Management
Prof Martin Grunow Technische Universität München

Mura
The 3 Ms of Lean (Inconsistency)
uneven, irregular, erratic,
inconsistent

Muri
(Overburden)
unreasonable, impossible,
excessive

Muda
(Waste)
futile, useless,
pointless

Jon Woolfrey 7
 TUM School of Management
Production and Supply Chain Management
Prof Martin Grunow Technische Universität München

The 3Ms and Lean Production

Jon Woolfrey
Faculty of Engineering &
Information Technology (FEIT),
University of Technology Sydney (UTS)

Jon Woolfrey 8
 TUM School of Management
Production and Supply Chain Management
Prof Martin Grunow Technische Universität München

Learning Objectives
• Relate the concept of the 3Ms to principles of Lean Production.
• Understand how Lean tools apply to the 3Ms.

Jon Woolfrey 9
 TUM School of Management
Production and Supply Chain Management
Prof Martin Grunow Technische Universität München

Lean tools target different areas of the 3Ms

Process/Value Stream Mapping
Mura
(Inconsistency) Visual Management

5S (Sort, Shine, Set in order, Standardize, Sustain)

Heijunka (Production Levelling)
Muri Takt Time
(Overburden)
Setup Time Reduction
Just-In-Time

Muda Poka Yoke (Error Proofing)

(Waste)
Jidoka (Stop & fix)

Jon Woolfrey 1
0
 TUM School of Management
Production and Supply Chain Management
Prof Martin Grunow Technische Universität München

Muri (Overburden) and Little’s Law

Input Process Output

Utilization u
𝐓𝐰
𝐭𝐚𝐢

𝐓
=𝐭 𝐢𝐰𝐚 𝐩× × 𝐯𝐮
(𝟏 − 𝐮)

lim
𝐮→𝟏 𝐓𝐰
𝐭=
𝐚𝐢 ∞
(𝟏𝟎𝟎%)

• When we overload our processes,

work build-up grows to infinity!
• Reducing burden helps create
continuous flow

Jon Woolfrey 1
1
 TUM School of Management
Production and Supply Chain Management
Prof Martin Grunow Technische Universität München

Applying Lean tools improves process capacity

Mura (Inconsistency) When we:
• Level workload distribution
Requirement Muri (Overburden) (Heijunka)
• Eliminate non-value add work
Muda (Waste) (Setup Time Reduction/Value
Stream mapping)
• Standardize the work
environment
(5S, Visual Management)
• Reduce process variation (Six
We
Lean Sigma)
:• Reduce burden (muri)
Requirement
Increased capacity
Reduced utilization u
• Reduce waste (muda)
• And increase process capacity /
reduce resource utilization

Jon Woolfrey 1
2
 TUM School of Management
Production and Supply Chain Management
Prof Martin Grunow Technische Universität München

Improving capacity improves productivity and performance

Mura (Inconsistency)

Muri (Overburden)
Increasing capacity / reducing
Requirement
utilization means:
Muda (Waste) • More capacity to deal with
problems
• Flexibility with customer/market
demands (mura)
• Continuous flow of goods
Lean • Less inventory
Requirement
Increased capacity • Less waste
Reduced utilization u
• Fewer defects

Jon Woolfrey 1
3
 TUM School of Management
Production and Supply Chain Management
Prof Martin Grunow Technische Universität München

Core Concepts in Lean Production

Mura • Create continuous flow
(Inconsistency) • Increase flexibility to meet customer demand
uneven, irregular, erratic,
inconsistent
• Eliminate waste through quality and quantity
control
• Pull production through the process
Muri • Continuous improvement
• Culture
(Overburden)
• Continuous monitoring and reporting
unreasonable, impossible,
• Involvement from everyone
excessive

Muda
(Waste)
futile, useless,
pointless
Jon Woolfrey 1
4
 TUM School of Management
Production and Supply Chain Management
Prof Martin Grunow Technische Universität München

The 3Ms and Lean Production

Jon Woolfrey
Faculty of Engineering &
Information Technology (FEIT),
University of Technology Sydney (UTS)

Jon Woolfrey 1
5