The Seven Deadly Wastes of Logistics free essay sample

In fact, a recent study by the management consulting firm Bain Company found that only 19% of companies that have attempted to implement lean are happy with the results. Early in the twentieth century, Henry Ford took all the elements of a manufacturing system and arranged them in a continuous system for manufacturing the Model T automobile. Much like a child learns and forms habits from every action his or her parents take, newcomers to TPS learn from their Japanese â€Å"parents†. For example, within TPS there are many Toyota Way principles that need to be clearly understood and successfully applied before the benefits of TPS can be fully realized. But there are five in particular that are fundamental to TPS process. Once you grasp these you’ll be able to take the first steps on your Lean journey. TPS strives for otal elimination of muda (anything that is wasteful and doesn’t add value), through a process focus (where managers work cross- organizationally to develop and sustain robust business processes), using genchi genbutsu (collecting facts and data at the actual site of the work or problem), and kaizen (continuous and incremental process improvement), with a value of mutual respect (between management and employees and business partners). We will write a custom essay sample on The Seven Deadly Wastes of Logistics or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page ? Muda adds unnecessary cost, quality problems, and lead-time to business processes. Process focus creates a capable and stable value stream. Applying genchi genbutsu provides the necessary understanding of how work is actually done so standardized processes can be developed, and lets us see problem causes for kaizen problem solving to eliminate muda. This may be the most difficult principle for traditional companies and managers to embrace, since it requires an attention to detail that seems to fly in the face of making Wall Street quarterly numbers and speedy decision making. The purpose of kaizen is to involve every employee in the identification and elimination of all forms of muda, thereby creating value. This is commonly referred to as the kaizen process, which uses the scientific method of problem solving at the Lehigh University Center for Value Chain Research www. lehigh. edu/~inchain 2 lowest possible level in the organization. Mutual respect between management and employees reflects a true respect and sense of responsibility from management. This mutual respect is exemplified by employee safety, lifelong learning, and nurturing and coaching of every employee to enable them to contribute their full human potential to improve their job and business processes for the betterment of the company. This is core to the kaizen process. Anyone who has experienced TPS first-hand is well aware of how these five principles are applied and interconnected. It would be common, for example, to see an experienced Toyota veteran observing a production or distribution operation and taking notes—often for hours at a time. To the uninitiated observer, it would appear that little value was being created, when in fact the opposite is true. There is a well known story about one of the techniques used by Ohno when visiting a plant. It is said that Ohno would draw a circle—the â€Å"Ohno circle†Ã¢â‚¬â€on the floor and order one member of his staff to stand within the circle, sometimes for the entire day. The objective was to closely observe the operation (genchi genbutsu, identify inefficiencies (muda), and record areas of opportunity. Next, a plan for process improvement would be developed and executed. This is what genchi genbutsu and kaizen are all about. When teaching American managers about problem solving for kaizen, a Japanese staff member would typically apply the â€Å"Five Why’s† process (the practice of repeatedly asking why about the suspected cause at least five times to get to the root cause or causes of the problem). For example, after observing and identifying an opportunity for improvement, a Japanese staff member would discuss the opportunity with his American counterpart. Rather than identifying the actual improvement and dictating a solution, the Japanese staff member would ask a series of questions (the â€Å"Five Why’s) that would nudge the American to make a decision that he had already determined through analysis was appropriate. This is the cultural educational process that all Americans (or non-Japanese) must go through to learn and ultimately master TPS. Here is an example of how the â€Å"Five Why’s† might be applied: The Washington Monument was disintegrating Why? Use of harsh chemicals Why? To clean pigeon poop Why so many pigeons? They eat spiders and there are a lot of spiders at the monument Why so many spiders? They eat gnats and there are a lot of gnats at the monument Why are there so many gnats? They are attracted to the light at dusk Solution: Turn on the lights at a later time. The Seven Deadly Wastes of the Toyota Production System The relentless elimination of waste is as important today as it was when Taiichi Ohno identified the primary sources of waste, which he called â€Å"The Seven Deadly Wastes†. These are: 1. Overproduction: Producing more than is needed for immediate use. 2. Delay/Waiting: Any delay between the end of one process and the start of the next activity. 3. Transportation/Conveyance: Unnecessary movement of products, materials or information. 4. Motion: Unnecessary movement of people, such as walking, reaching and stretching. 5. Inventory: Any raw material, work-in-process, or finished goods that exceed what is required to meet customer needs just in time and to maintain process stability. 6. Over-processing: Using more energy or activity than is needed to produce a product or adding more value than the agreed standard. 7. Defects/Correction: Any production that results in rework or scrap. Lehigh University Center for Value Chain Research www. lehigh. edu/~inchain 3 The Seven Deadly Wastes of Logistics While The Seven Deadly Wastes were originally intended for production operations, the concept is rapidly catching on in the service sector. What follows is an application of TPS principles that can be applied to the logistics area. Within logistics, we have determined that there are also seven areas of waste. We call these â€Å"The Seven Deadly Wastes of Logistics†. 1. Overproduction: Delivering products before they are needed is overproduction.