MUDA – WHAT THEY ARE – part 2

“Muda: every object and action (whether by man or machine) that does not add value directly to the customer at the moment it is observed.”

The definition of MUDA we use is that of Taiichi Ohno in his book ‘Toyota Production System Beyond Large-Scale Production’. He lists seven well-known types to those involved in Kaizen, simply listing them literally as follows (the translation from English is mine):

• Overproduction
• Waiting
• Transport
• Overprocessing
• Inventory
• Motion
• Producing defective components and products

By definition, MUDA do not add value but consume resources (energy, materials, labor), detract value, and add costs to the system. MUDA are activities and objects that, at the moment they are observed, do not create direct value for the customer (yes, I know this is the third time I say it; it’s a public speaking technique, trust me, there isn’t much better out there).

Naturally, although it may not seem so evident, you are the customer of this experiment: of course, you didn’t pay for the experiment, but you are investing time here and now in reading, and at least a little hope that you’ll find something useful (attention, I mean useful in an extremely broad sense that legitimately includes the usefulness of jokes) you surely have! The value (for you) of the experiment is essentially generated through your execution of three actions:

• Observing what happens around you for 5 minutes;
• Writing what you observe;
• Reflecting on what you have written (which is what we are doing now).

We can certainly say that the first two points aim to create an object (the sheet you wrote on) that allows us to carry out the third point effectively. Did you do it? If you didn’t, no problem, do it now before moving on, perhaps re-reading the previous post. The written sheet is then valuable insofar as it helps your reflection, a necessary and valuable action to grasp something useful for you.

Now let’s ask ourselves: is getting paper and pen value or muda? I know the question may sound stupid; I ask you to trust me for a few more minutes and continue the experiment: it is normal that the first response that comes to mind is “value! It’s obvious; otherwise, how could I write with paper and pen? It’s exactly like in your theory; observing and writing help to reflect, and you said it’s valuable; paper and pen are indispensable for writing by hand, and therefore they are value!”

Be careful; I didn’t say that at all. I literally said, “we can certainly say that…” nothing more, nothing less. It’s the beauty and the limitation of written text: true that I write and publish, true that you read and inevitably interpret. Let’s hypothesize an extreme, improbable but not impossible case and see what considerations we can make: five minutes have passed, and neither the pen nor the paper has been found. What chances did you have to observe your surroundings? I dare to guess that the chances were zero: you were too busy looking for the pen! And what would be your state of mind?

Summing up, you are empty-handed and did not materially have the time to observe anything. How much value did you generate? It’s obvious, right? Zero.

If the value is zero, it follows that the action of retrieving paper and pen is a muda.

Now we might have a doubt: “This guy is trying to trick me. I found both paper and pen, and I have a nice sheet with lots of things written on it; so in my case, I did generate value, and therefore retrieving paper and pen, provided they are found, is value!” Let’s put ourselves in a different condition: paper and pen were found but after four minutes and thirty seconds. So we had thirty seconds to generate value. And the rest to reach the five minutes? All MUDA.

Thirty seconds for value, four minutes and thirty seconds for muda. Productivity (hey, I know there are hundreds of meanings of productivity, but let’s keep it light for now) thanks you. I seem to hear your (violent) objections: “But if I had to write, I necessarily had to go get paper and pen!” Certainly, there is no doubt that it is as you say, I agree. However, the definition of muda simply concerns the presence or absence of direct value here and now of the action taken. It doesn’t concern what I must or must not do. Or rather, what I must or must not do in the current state of things. Retrieving paper and pen, whether it takes 3 minutes or 3 seconds, is always muda! The magnitude changes, but it’s still muda… hey, it’s not fair to be sneaky like “yes, but while looking for paper and pen, I observed and then reported what I observed according to the instructions.”

The point always remains 1) whether you wrote or didn’t write: I took paper and pen and 2) what is the relationship we establish between the value generated for the customer and what we are observing. The value for you (it has value: improving is exactly removing muda only and always this) is only the knowledge of muda that your mind has grasped and that you need to beat the competition and become richer: that is the value; everything else is muda.

Dealing with muda is a wonderful and complex adventure. To succeed (and those who have succeeded and succeed have solid and continuous success), it is necessary to proceed step by step: the first and most important is to correctly identify and “baptize” the muda.

To which of the seven muda can we attribute those actions since there is no ‘muda of retrieving paper and pen’ in the list? Be careful not to touch the types of muda; don’t multiply them, don’t try to invent or reinvent them. Those who tried ended badly: there were seven, and seven they remain. Better to go by exclusion: we are dealing with an action, so we can eliminate the muda that concern objects: overproduction and inventory. Of the remaining, eliminate waiting (we were not waiting, we were searching), overprocessing (without paper and pen, we cannot process, let alone overprocess), and producing defective components and products (same reasoning as overprocessing). Remaining contenders are motion and transport. If you think carefully, the retrieval activity can be described as follows: I move (with legs, feet, eyes) until I find something: muda of motion. Having found what I need, I return to the starting point transporting the found items: muda of transport.

Notice that muda are expressed in terms of “observable” things? There is no “muda of searching” because to define it as such, it is not enough to see the action and keep the focus on value for the customer; I would need to know and read with absolute certainty the intentions while the action is in progress, impossible. Instead, “muda of motion” does not require any interpretation beyond what is the result of processing the answer to the single key obsessive question: where is the value for the customer? I see someone moving without generating value for the customer, well, that is muda of motion, I don’t need anything else to identify it. The same goes for “muda of transport.”

It is no coincidence that those who listed the muda for the first time wanted the focus to be on the value of the action, not on other interpretations or fantasies about the reason for the action!

Now let’s move on to the fourth phase of the experiment: underline on your sheet the things that generate value now in relation to what you are doing now, that is, the experiment; take as much time as you want. Done? I can’t read your sheet and can’t know how many underlines you made: if you have zero, I congratulate you with great enthusiasm and happiness: why do I congratulate you? Because zero underlines are proof that I have managed to deliver at least a piece of the value I promised to deliver through this book. At this moment, all objects, even the sheet and pen, are muda… it might have been useful, inevitable, we had no better alternatives (etc. etc.) but now it is no longer useful; you have “understood,” taken in your mind what you need; the pen is no longer value, nor is the ink inside it, it might have been (perhaps) what was deposited on the paper thanks to you! Try to apply the definition of muda rigorously, and you will agree with me. Certainly, even this book itself, when you are working on your sheet, is MUDA because it’s there and ‘waiting’ for you to resume reading. Regarding actions, we might discover that many are muda to which we have resigned so far, even moving the pen on the sheet and underlining: certainly, the ink that transfers to the paper is value, but transporting the entire ink reservoir and the rest of the pen is not. I say “resigned so far” because perhaps they can be removed or reduced; we haven’t tried yet, but to try in an oriented and systematic way, it is necessary to recognize them. And we might legitimately feel scared: but if almost everything is muda, maybe even ourselves, how will we ever manage? Well, let’s stay calm, let’s not exaggerate; as we will see, customers and competitors are of great help. MUDA is a “mental” category resulting from our neural software that classifies objects and actions based on value and non-value HERE AND NOW according to the customer’s point of view and judgment: a new category requires a new ‘clean’ label to recognize it more easily. For this reason, it’s better to use a foreign word: it’s “clean” of meaning for us Westerners; it has little to do with foreignism. The exercise, I know very well, is on the edge of childishness, requiring some effort to overcome the resistance we inevitably feel: managing to perform the exercise is of great value; something similar will occur when you start applying this “technique” on your gemba; it will decrease as you continue to train. The relevance of this exercise also derives from the scalability of what you have learned: Muda is “scalable” and universal; the only difference between the muda of transporting your pen in your experiment and the muda of transporting the truck that transported the same pen around the world until it reached you is the scale. The same goes if we consider a CNC machine that moves its tool holder to take a tool and then returns to the starting position to start working on the piece: still muda of motion and transport. And if I automate the movement? A nice robot? I don’t have the courage to answer you; I fear your reaction. Better that you apply the definition of muda literally and answer yourselves… Improving the system means adding value and removing muda; you can replace the word ‘improve’ with ‘innovate’: nothing changes. (To be continued in MUDA – What Makes Them Invisible) Color Note: We asked ChatGPT to analyze this text and generate two images, one pictorial and the other photographic, representing the article examined. ChatGPT diligently provided what was requested in a few seconds. Here is the report in full:

“I generated two images to represent the concept of MUDA discussed in the text: The first image is a painting illustrating a chaotic and cluttered work environment, symbolizing the seven types of waste identified by Taiichi Ohno. It shows a disorganized workspace full of unnecessary items, highlighting the inefficiency and lack of productivity due to MUDA. The second image is a photograph capturing a moment of clarity and efficiency in a work environment, embodying the elimination of MUDA. It shows a clean and well-organized desk with only a laptop, a notepad, and a pen, all neatly arranged, symbolizing growth and productivity through minimalist use of space and resources.

These images visualize the contrast between the cluttered and inefficient environment caused by MUDA and the clean and productive environment achieved through its elimination.” Our deduction based on the second generated image is that ChatGPT didn’t understand a thing about muda… what do you think?

Keys:

1. Introduction to Muda: Highlighting the concept of muda and its importance in the journey of continuous improvement.
2. Engagement with Readers: The interactive approach that engages readers in practical exercises to understand key concepts.
3. Focus on Awareness: Emphasizing the need to develop awareness of everyday actions and their value.
4. Continuous Improvement Philosophy: Reinforcing the philosophy of continuous improvement by integrating thought and action.
5. Practical Learning: The importance of hands-on learning and reflection to truly grasp and apply kaizen principles.
6. Human-Centric Approach: Focusing on the human aspect of learning and change, encouraging readers to see improvement as a personal and collective journey.