there are two types of non-value-adding work: necessary and unnecessary.* Necessary non-value-adding work includes activities that an organization believes it must presently do to have a viable business. We sometimes refer to this work as value-enabling. In other words, if this work wasn’t performed, the organization would be hard-pressed to deliver value. Unnecessary non-value-adding work is true waste: the customer doesn’t value it and the business doesn’t have to do it to remain a viable enterprise.
