Abstract

Based on the Toyota Production System (TPS) and used in hundreds of thousands of organizations across the world during the last 30 years, lean is a set of management practices to improve efficiency and effectiveness by eliminating waste. The seven wastes (or muda) of lean manufacturing originally identified in the TPS are: waiting, inventory, motion, transportation, defects, overprocessing and overproduction. The eighth waste of lean is unique from the original seven in that its elimination can directly benefit the employees, as well as the employer. The eighth waste is considered to be the under-utilization or sub-optimization of resources (personnel). An underutilized employee is not challenged by his or her duties and, hence, not working to his or her full potential.