AD&P; > July 2014 > TALK > Marginal > Gary S. Vasilash > gsv@autofeldguide.com
8
your ofce wall?' I asked. 'I assume
it must be because your people
know where waste is but they
don't do anything about getting
rid of it.'
"Mr K was silent.
"'Once waste is identifed, every-
body wants to get rid of it,' I went
on. 'So shouldn't your slogan be
'Find Waste!' instead?'"
As Shingo went on to observe,
"The trick is to fnd waste, or
muda. We need to question the
status quo by constantly asking
'why?'—even when we aren't aware
of any problems. After all, the
most damaging kind of waste is
the waste we don't recognize."
This, I think, is something that gets
too readily overlooked by com-
panies, even companies that tout
their varying levels of ecofriend-
liness. Everyone gets the obvious.
It is the less overt that needs to be
ferreted out and addressed.
The Toyota Production System
identifes seven kinds of waste:
1. Overproduction
2. Delay
3. Transport
4. Processing
5. Inventory
6. Wasted motion
7. Making defective products
While OEMs and suppliers alike
have, generally speaking, become
pretty good at addressing some of
these—by necessity, if for no other
reason (e.g., as a consequence of
the Great Recession, there aren't
a whole lot of companies that can
aford to carry too much in the
way of inventory, to say nothing
of having the wherewithal to over-
produce)—there are still some areas
where there needs to be improve-
ment (as in the aforementioned
recalls, which is waste #7).
In another title from Shingo, The
Sayings of Shigeo Shingo (Pro-
ductivity Press, 1987), he writes,
"Perceiving means recognizing
phenomena by means of our fve
senses. Thinking, on the other hand,
is our mental ability to pursue
causes and purposes by objectively
asking 'why' about all phenomena."
0714ADP Marginal -- Digital Version.indd 8 6/17/2014 1:12:54 PM