8 wastes of lean

Concept

The eight kinds of waste (muda) in lean: defects, overproduction, waiting, unused talent, transport, inventory, motion and extra processing. Each consumes resources without adding value for the customer.

Description

Lean describes eight kinds of waste, called muda in Japanese. They are activities that use resources but add no value for the customer: defects, overproduction, waiting, unused talent, transport, inventory, motion and extra processing. A common memory aid is the word DOWNTIME, which takes its letters from these eight names.

The list is a lens for observation. Walking through a process with it, people notice scrap and rework, parts waiting in queues, long walking distances or steps nobody needs. Not all non-value-adding work can be removed at once, because some of it, such as inspections required by law, is necessary. The first step is to see it. Value stream mapping shows where the waste sits in the flow, and kaizen events reduce it step by step.

Related topics in brief

• iFAKT GmbH · Related to · Organization
  Stuttgart-based consulting company and software specialist for Industry 4.0, founded in 2001, that helps manufacturers plan and optimize production and logistics processes; developer of the Polaris software.
• Polaris VSM · Related to · Product
  Module of iFAKT Polaris for data-based value stream mapping that models material and information flows collaboratively and makes waste and bottlenecks visible.
• Value stream mapping · Related to · Concept
  A lean method for visualizing how material, information and decisions flow through a product family, including process steps, queues and handoffs.
• Lean management · Related to · Concept
  A management approach derived from the Toyota Production System that creates more value for customers with fewer resources by removing waste, improving flow and involving the people who do the work in continuous improvement.
• Value stream manager · Related to · Job / role
  Is responsible for one value stream from raw material to customer and leads its improvement across departments. Known in German as Wertstrommanager.
• Lead time · Related to · Concept
  The total time from the start of an order or part until it is finished, including all waiting. In most plants, waiting makes up far more of it than actual work.
• Scrap rate · Related to · Concept
  The share of produced units that cannot be sold or reworked and are discarded. It is a basic quality measure and also part of the quality factor in OEE.
• Spaghetti diagram · Related to · Concept
  A drawing of the actual paths that people, parts or vehicles take on a floor plan. Tangled lines show unnecessary walking and transport, a form of waste.

Glossary

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Experts on related topics

• Mirko Peters · via iFAKT GmbH

Maintained by Mirko Peters (Microsoft MVP) · Last updated: 2026-11-11