Muda Mura Muri

There is never a good time to generate waste, make mistakes or do the wrong thing. In the current climate where all sectors are struggling with labor shortages, limited raw material availability, elongated lead-times, and inflationary pressures it is vital that waste is kept to an absolute minimum as part of a strategy to drive towards zero waste. 

By focusing on Muda, Mura, and Muri all organizations, irrespective of sector or industry, can offset some of these headwinds.

What exactly are Muda, Mura, and Muri? The three variances that indicate inefficient production operation and management are Muda, Mura, and Muri. They were first used as the basis for the Toyota Production System (TPS) and later for the Lean strategy framework. Muda (waste), Mura (inconsistency), and Muri (overburden) are the three categories that significantly impact workflow, productivity, and customer satisfaction. The three concepts were created by Taiichi Ohno and are crucial to the Lean Principle which uses strategies from Muda, Mura, and Muri. Standards from Muda, Mura, and Muri assist companies in avoiding wasting time, resources, goods, and labor.

What is Muda

Muda is any activity that does not result in the creation of value for the customer. These activities can be summarized by the 8 wastes: 

1. Transport
2. Inventory
3. Motion
4. Waiting
5. Over Production
6. Over Processing
7. Defects
8. Skills

Thinking is required and each leader must interpret each of the 8 wastes for their own organization or industry based on their observations, communication, and experiences. 

For example, in a warehouse or distribution center, motion waste is the unnecessary movement to pick products. In a call center, returning to the system to amend an already uploaded customer order could be deemed as motion waste or over processing depending on the circumstances. 

Defects could be an out of specification product on a production line or a purchase order administrative error in a purchasing department. Organizations need to use the 8 Wastes as a catalyst to identify their industry equivalents, champion individuals, and teams to habitually address these wastes.

The cost of Muda is amplified by the rising costs to do business. The payback for a business setting itself up for Muda reduction is now more rewarding than ever. Addressing Muda is something that many organizations can ill afford not to do.

What is Mura 

Mura is the unevenness of workflow. This waste often results in Muda. Focus on Mura has traditionally been within the assembly manufacturing industry with organizations striving to improve line balancing. However, addressing Mura opportunities should not be restricted to assembly operations nor manufacturing. Several healthcare bodies have recognized this and continue to reduce Mura waste from their organizations. Other non-manufacturing examples that could be susceptible to Mura include a restaurant at peak time over the weekend, a warehouse short of certain SKUs, an airport during the busy holiday season, or a sport merchandising store on game day. Mura is not exclusively a manufacturing waste; non-manufacturing organizations need to identify unevenness in their work and address it accordingly. 

An appreciation of Takt time and setting up the work to match Takt time is critical. This may mean leveling the demand by introducing incentives to avoid peak time(s), reducing cycle times, or introducing flexible capacity which expands, or contracts, based on takt time. Establishing a continuous flow steering group or pillar team is the smart way to go about this.

What is Muri

Muri is the overburdening of a process, person, or place of work. Sometimes this waste is cited as asking the unreasonable or impossible. Muri often results in Muda, customer failures, potential mental harm to people or physical damage to equipment. Again, the attacking of this waste has often been recognized as a manufacturing activity, but all sectors and industries are vulnerable to this waste. 

Consider a laboratory, where equipment and/or people become overburdened due to customer requirements, equipment availability, or skills availability. A customer service department relying on one or two individuals from the team who have the required language capabilities to serve the customer.

Whenever you hear one of your teams deploring the constant workarounds they are having to undertake or bemoaning the lack of time to complete a task, then you are likely to have been indirectly told there is Muri in your working environment. A question for leaders to consider is; “would you deliberately design the task this way?”

Embarking on a pillar process that includes Continuous Skills Development (CSD), Early Equipment Management and Total Productive Maintenance (TPM) will address the overburden Muri wastes. 

Every organization has their unique challenges and opportunities, whether they’re manufacturing or service, healthcare or logistics, there is the commonality of waste diminishing the potential returns for all these businesses. The margin for error is tighter than ever, where the need to address waste has never been so important. 

The Value of addressing Muda, Mura, and Muri

We can create an effective business operational system, guaranteeing a systematic methodology to organize the workflow and reduce the likelihood of waste. The capability to:

1. identify Muda, Mura, and Muri 
2. act in a routine way can ensure organizations drive all forms of waste from their businesses

Applying these concepts can reduce heavy workloads and help companies develop effective processes.

Spend time with your team as part of a waste walk and stand and watch where the value is created. What do you see? Muda? Mura? Muri? All three? Note what you see under each header and begin to learn to see and start to unlock the potential in your organization.

If you need support identifying or addressing Muda, Mura, or Muri please contact us. Performance Solutions by Milliken can help your organization. We can create a strong operational excellence program tailored to your business. To begin, get in touch with us!