The7 Wastes are activities identified and categorized as non-value adding events or processes that limit profitability in a company.

First identified by Taiichi Ohno of Toyota, the 7 Wastes are as follows
1. Overproduction: Making more parts than you can sell.
2. Delay: Waiting for processing, parts sitting in storage, etc.
3. Transporting: Parts/Materials: Moving parts to various storage locations, from process to process, etc.
4. Over-Processing: Doing more "work" to a part than is required.
5. Inventory: Committing money and storage space to parts not sold.
6. Motion: Moving parts more than the minimum needed to complete and ship them.
7. Making Defective Parts: Creating parts that cannot be sold "as is" or that must be reworked etc.