muda
A Japanese term (無駄) meaning “futility; uselessness; wastefulness.” Muda is a key removal-of-waste concept (along with Mura and Muri) in lean manufacturing that focuses on the removal of non-value adding steps.
The following table illustrates the traditional forms of muda in manufacturing with their equivalence in product development:
| Manufacturing Muda | Product Development Muda |
| Transportation | Handoffs |
| Inventory | Work in process (WIP) |
| Motion | Task switching |
| Waiting | Delays |
| Over-processing | Gold plating |
| Over production | Extra features |
| Defects | Defects |