Don't waste time removing Muda

Don't waste time removing Muda

Those who are not intimate or, at the very least, well educated in the ways of Lean will say that Lean is a strategy for cost reduction. Others may state that, whilst Lean is focussed on cost reduction and the removal of wasteful or non-value adding work, if you want to reduce variability or improve quality then the tool you require is six sigma.

Lean practitioners will spout with pride the Japanese term Muda as though it is some mystical entity and then gleefully recite the 7 or 8 wastes to which they have been indoctrinated.

Most Lean consultants will tell you that Lean is a top down, bottom up journey of improvement, a journey with ultimately, no destination.  These same consultants will then go on to apply Lean tools on the “shopfloor” (bottom up only) and market their success to their clients on the benefits demonstrated from a few “quick wins”, “quick wins” which actually deliver no benefit at all when looking at P&L reports. These same consultants will also tell you (but not their prospective clients) that around 80% of those organisations that begin on a Lean journey give up on it and declare it a failure within 2 to 3 years. They will even tell you that the reason for this is a lack of Leadership engagement.

So, from all that, and if you’ve read any of my previous publications, you are probably thinking that I have gone completely mad. On the contrary, I was trained by Toyota’s own Japanese sensei and so I know, without a shadow of a doubt, Lean works, when done properly. The problem that we are now facing is that there are pitifully few people out there that understand the nuances and intentions of Lean sufficiently well to be able to begin down that road, and too many that have tried and failed have ultimately given Lean a bad rap. So what is it that we have been doing wrong, and why do we insist on doing it wrong over and over?

Obviously the answer to this question is not simple, there are a myriad of reasons for a failed attempt at Lean transformation. To my mind though, and as I have already alluded to, Leadership is a common denominator.

If Lean is top down bottom up why do most begin with bottom up?

Why are “quick wins” so desperately sought after when they very rarely prove to be business benefits at all?

Why do practitioners and consultants only ever talk about Muda and leave out Mura and Muri completely, and if they don’t leave it out they are reluctant to do anything about it?

The answer – because this way is easier or quicker.

With this in mind I’d like to introduce the words of Theodore Roosevelt who said “Nothing in the world is worth having or worth doing unless it means effort, pain, difficulty…”

By beginning with the shopfloor, and the reduction of Muda, an organisations Leadership team is being completely sidelined. Localised issues are being remedied and these issues, more often than not, do nothing to improve the system, a system which is broken or ill-conceived or not well operated or why else would the consultant be there at all.

Edwards Deming is famously quoted as saying “a bad system will beat a good person every time.”

The truth is that Mura, or variation (see it is a key component of Lean transformations) is where the action is, this is where the benefit will be felt and realised in the P&L and this is where the top down approach comes into its own.

Frontline or gemba workers, only work IN the system.

 Leadership/Management work ON the system.

Gemba workers have NO power to work ON the system and if that system is broken  ONLY management can fix it.

Mura is brought about by poor systems, therefore Leadership/Management engagement is critical in its removal or reduction.

So come on Lean people, if you really want to change the success rate of what you do try Mura first. It will be hard work, it will demand challenging longstanding systems and practices around areas such as sales, accounting and management, but it is the way to success.

Improvement cannot really be made unless there is a stable point from which to spring forward and removing or reducing Mura will create that stability so that when the time comes to focus on Muda the effect will be greater, swifter sustaining.

For more on this point see Jim Womack's post from 2006 HERE

Ralf Lippold

Mobility enthusiast (rail, bike, combined-transport), lean thinker, opera and camellia lover

6y

Well put thoughts. Muda is rather the symptom of Mura (the rest of the 'problem iceberg'). As with other symptoms in life people tend to get locked in by them and their energy pulled away from the real work.

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Tomas Schweigert

Never stop starting never start stopping

6y

Don't waste time producing muda

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Andreas Wettstein

Managing Partner @ AGILITY3 | Organisation & Team Development - Enabling technical experts to become capable leaders - High performance without burning out

8y

Thanks for sharing this.

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Lee Tudor

Managing Director @ Training Practical Solutions Consultancy | RTO Specialist, Lean Manufacturing

8y

Culture and discipline before the journey can begin! Good read

Cristina M.

Trainer and fan of continuous improvement

8y

It is true that many people (including me) prefer to start with simpler tasks, just to prove that Lean is useful. But there are also at least two other reasons, from my point of view: 1. ”Whatever is worth doing at all is worth doing well.” - Philip Stanhope, 4th Earl of Chesterfield It doesn't make sense to start with more complex changes, if the process obviously includes a lot of unnecessary activities or wrong working habits. . 2. Addressing Muda in the beginning is a useful client - consultant trust building process . Afterwards, more complex decisions seem more acceptable at management levels.

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