The 7 Wastes in Digital Processes
At Several Millers, we don’t just automate processes, we build operationally excellent processes. How do we define operational excellence? One framework we use is Lean Manufacturing and the concept of the “7 Muda” (7 wastes).
“The concept that Muda must be eliminated in a process is a driving concept of the Toyota Production System and Lean Manufacturing.” ¹
To help guide the design of new, automated processes, we have created a checklist organized under the 7 wastes concept and applied to digital processes. This is living document, and below we share some of the checklist items that we like best. Without further ado, here it is:
The 7 Wastes in Digital Processes Checklist
Overproduction
- [ ] The Process does not create a data dump of excessive information, unneeded data, reports that no one reads, etc.
Correction
- [ ] The Process includes automated checks on inputs and outputs at each step to catch and fix errors upstream.
- [ ] If an error is caught at any point that cannot be automatically corrected, The Process stops, and the user and tech team is alerted.
Inventory
- [ ] The Process does not store data unnecessarily.
Motion
- [ ] The Process minimizes the number of clicks, entries, toggles between windows and systems etc.
Conveyance
- [ ] The Process minimizes the movement / transmission of data and information, running locally where possible.
Over-processing
- [ ] The Processes avoids complex approaches unless necessary (where a data validation can be done with a regular expression, it does not make an LLM call, etc.).
Waiting
- [ ] The Process minimizes latency and run times.
- [ ] The Process avoids waiting for user input wherever possible.
If you have additional items that you suggest adding, we would love to hear them! Please reach to out jesse@severalmillers.com.
¹ “Six Sigma A Complete Step-by-Step Guide.” The Council for Six Sigma Certification, Chapter 4: Lean Concepts. www.sixsigmacouncil.orgimage