7 wastes of the Toyota Production System

I come across 7 wastes while reading Guide to Waste Reduction published by Singapore Productivity and Standards Board (ISBN: 981-4032-58-1).

Even though this book is written to help improve productivity in factory, I find the concept of 7 wastes very useful in daily life.

Waste arising from overproduction is the first of the 7 wastes. Overproduction is one of the 7 wastes because it waste time and money.

I think many people are equally guilty of overproduction in their lives. For example, a person cooks too much, and cannot consume all the food. It is a waste due to overproduction, one of the 7 wastes. It is better to cook enough to feed the family, and not waste time and food.

Waste arising from defects (bad quality) is the second of the 7 wastes. Everyone knows that making mistakes and redo the work is very unpleasant. The tailor who does not pay attention when taking measurements may have to rework. That is a waste due to bad quality. This is one of the 7 wastes that all of us are guilty frequently. Sometimes we just don’t pay attention and do things wrong.

Waste arising from waiting time (delays) is the third of the 7 wastes. Waiting, waiting, waiting is part of our life. We can reduce waiting time when we go to the mall during off peak hours. Wasting time is an unnecessary waste. In fact, wasting time is one of 7 wastes that is very easy to get rid off. We just need to learn proper time management.

Waste arising from inventory (work-in-progress) is the fourth of the 7 wastes. While it is true that buying in bulk can save money. However, that is provided that we have the space to store the goods. If we live in a small house, and have limited space, then buying in bulk is not possible. We will commit the 4th of the 7 wastes.

Waste arising from transportation (movement) is the fifth of the 7 wastes. Some of us get a job that is too far from our house. We commit the fifth of the 7 wastes in this sense. It is a waste of time traveling a few hours to work every week. Since our bosses don’t pay us for the traveling time, it is our waste.

Waste arising from processing is the sixth of the 7 wastes. If we need just twenty minutes to do something, and we are using forty minutes, we are guilty of the 6th of the 7 wastes.

Some children waste so much time getting ready to do homework that they do not have enough time to do their homework properly. You can explain to them that they are committing the 6th of the 7 wastes.

Waste arising from unnecessary motion is the last of the 7 wastes. Sometimes we misplace certain items and have to search all over the house for it. We feel frustrated because we know that we are wasting our time. One example is finding the keys just when we are about to leave home. That is the last of 7 wastes.

7 wastes occur because of our bad planning and organization. If we can keep our things in proper order, we can eliminate the 7 wastes and have more productive life.

Just to summarize, the 7 wastes are:
Waste arising from overproduction
Waste arising from defects (bad quality)
Waste arising from waiting time (delays)
Waste arising from inventory (work-in-progress)
Waste arising from transportation (movement)
Waste arising from processing
Waste arising from unnecessary motion

All the 7 wastes make us waste time and money. And since time and money are our most precious commodities, we should eradicate the 7 wastes from our lives.