Continuous improvement focused on the client.
Would you like to improve your processes? Do you need a way for your employees or partners to identify opportunities for improvement? Do you need a fresh, critical perspective on how processes and activities are carried out, enabling you to consider breaking away from current paradigms? Muda is the simple solution that enables you to instil the critical spirit of continuous improvement into your processes and your teams.
‘Value’ is understood as the degree of usefulness or suitability of goods (whether tangible or intangible) in satisfying a need. In the business world, we understand the concept of ‘value’ as that aspect of everything we do for which the customer is willing to pay for.
Every process consists of a series of activities or operations which, simply by virtue of being carried out, represent a cost to the company arising from the implicit use of human and material resources. However, it is clear that not all of them contribute in the same way to the production of a final product that meets the customer’s requirements.
From this set of activities, we can distinguish between a first group comprising those that add value –because the outcome of the operation brings us ever closer to what the customer requires– and a second group comprising those we shall refer to as ‘muda’, which refers to activities that, by their very nature, do not add any value whatsoever.
At the same time, whilst carrying out the full range of activities which are part of the process, a certain degree of variability inherent in each of them can be observed, both in terms of results and completion time. This variability is known as ‘mura’ and, in some operations, it can be so significant that it is even difficult to predict the overall outcome of the entire process, whether in terms of execution time or the quality of the product itself.
Both ‘mura’ and ‘muda’ contribute to the overburdening and depletion of the resources associated with the process. This excessive extra effort that is often required to carry out a process is known as ‘muri’.
"Muda refers to non-value-added operations, waste or the use of resources that the customer does not consider (commuting, errors, repetitions, waiting times, etc.), which therefore result in additional costs that reduce the profit margin and tie up resources."
It is important to understand that ‘muda’, ‘mura’ and ‘muri’ become an opportunity for improvement from the very moment we understand their nature and how to eliminate their causes. From this perspective, it is easy to see that the work of identifying deviations has a clearly positive focus aimed at improving process efficiency.
The ‘muda’ hunt.
The ‘muda hunt’, the ‘treasure map’, etc. Many authors have used different terms to describe the main objective of each and every continuous improvement tool, which is simply the elimination of ‘muda’ or waste. Taichi Ohno, arguably the most influential figure in the design and implementation of the Toyota production system, identified seven categories of ‘muda’. From his point of view, any waste of resources can be classified under one or more of these categories (Overproduction, Inventory, Transport, Motion, Waiting, Rework and Defects).