IEET422a

TUMLOS, AIMEE M. June 26, 2019

IEE 51 Written Report

What is Just in Time?

Just in Time (JIT), manufacturing is a Japanese management philosophy applied in
manufacturing which involves having the right items of the right quality and quantity in
the right place and at the right time. It has been widely reported that the proper use of
JIT manufacturing has resulted in increases in quality, productivity, and efficiency,
improved communication and decreases in costs and wastes. The potential of gaining
these benefits has made many organizations question and consider this approach to
manufacturing. For these reasons, JIT has become a very popular subject currently
being investigated by many worldwide organizations.
History and development of JIT manufacturing
JIT is a Japanese management philosophy which has been applied in practice since the
early 1970s in many Japanese manufacturing organizations. It was first developed and
perfected within the Toyota manufacturing plants by Taiichi Ohno as a means of
meeting customer demands with minimum delays (Goddard, 1986). For this reason
Taiichi Ohno is frequently referred to as the father of JIT.
The Toyota Production plants were the first to introduce JIT. It gained extended support
during the 1973 oil embargo and was later adopted by many other organizations.
Objectives of JIT
 Zero Inventory
 Zero lead time
 Zero failures
 Flow process
 Flexible Manufacture
 Eliminate waste

Characteristic of Just in time

 Pull method of materials flow
 Consistently high quality
 Small lot sizes
 Uniform workstation loads
 Standardized components and work methods
 Close supplier ties
 Flexible workforce
 Line Flows
 Automated production
 Preventive maintenance
The ultimate goal of JIT is a balance system that is one that achieves a smooth, rapid
flow of materials and/or work through the system. The idea is to make the process time
as short as possible by using resources in the best possible way. The degree to which
the overall goal is achieved depends on how well certain supporting goals are achieved.
Those goals are:
1. Eliminate disruptions
2. Make the system flexible
3. Eliminate waste, especially excess inventory
Building blocks
1. Product design
2. Process design
3. Personnel/ organizational elements
4. Manufacturing planning and control
Product Design
1. Standard parts
2. Modular design
3. Highly capable production systems with quality built in
4. Concurrent engineering
Process Design
1. Small lot sizes
2. Setup time reduction
3. Manufacturing cells
4. Limited work in process
5. Quality improvement
6. Production flexibility
7. Little inventory storage
Why JIT system is necessary for organization?

The eight types of waste

1. Overproduction- Manufacturing an item before it is needed
2. Inappropriate processing- using expensive high precision equipment when
simpler machines would suffice
3. Waiting- wasteful time incurred when product is not being moved or processed
4. Transportation- Excessive movement and material handling of product between
processes
5. Motion- Unnecessary effort related to the ergonomics of bending, stretching,
reaching, lifting, and walking.
6. Inventory- Excess inventory hides problems on the shop floor, consumes space,
Increases lead times, and inhibits communication
7. Defects- quality defects result in rework and scrap, and add wasteful costs to the
system in the form of lost capacity, rescheduling effort, increased inspection, and
loss of customer good will
8. Underutilization of employee- Failure of the firm to learn from and capitalize to its
employees knowledge and creativity impedes long term efforts to eliminate
waste.
Kanban Inventory System
Kanban is a type of just-in-time inventory management, as it applies to a production
process. Kanban is Japanese for ''card'' or ''visual signal.'' When a certain stage in the
production process is ready for more work-in-progress, all based on customer demand,
then it's shown with their Kanban card, or Kanban table, and the work-in-progress is
passed along to them.
In this sense, Kanban is an inventory system that ''pulls'' the inventory through the
system, unlike a traditional assembly line that ''pushes'' inventory though the system.
When inventory is pushed through the system, it can be inefficient and wasteful. Work-
in-progress can get held up at points of constraints, where work-in-progress sits and
waits because of a slow step in the process. Then, once it does make its way through,
production levels vary, so companies find themselves back in the dilemma of having too
much inventory on hand.

Some Examples of JIT

 Some retailers now use the JIT method to streamline the delivery process. For
example, a company that markets office furniture but does not manufacture it
may order the furniture from the manufacturer only when a customer makes a
purchase. The manufacturer delivers it directly to the customer. The retailer has
saved the cost of storing inventory.
 Burger King franchisers keep a substantial inventory of hamburger ingredients on
hand all the time, but a hamburger is only cooked when it is ordered. This saves
waste and gives the chain bragging rights for the freshness of its food.
 On-demand publishing is a prime example of the JIT inventory method, and it
has become popular with independent publishers and self-publishing businesses.
Master manuscripts of books are kept on hand, but texts are only printed and
assembled as needed when a retail sale is made. This reduces book store
returns and wasteful pulping of unsold inventory.

Just in Time inventory management in action

JIT inventory management is used today by businesses in industries ranging from retail
to fast food to tech. Toyota is one of the most famous examples of Just in Time
manufacturing simply because it was one of the first to implement this strategy
effectively. Here are some other examples of JIT in action:
Apple
This consumer electronics giant keeps as little inventory on hand as possible. By
lowering the amount of stock on hand, Apple carries a lower risk of overstocking and
chalking up dead stock in its warehouses. As explained by Tim Cook, CEO of Apple,
“Inventory is fundamentally evil. You kind of want to manage it like you’re in the dairy
business. If it gets past its freshness date, you have a problem.”
Xiaomi
Similar to Apple, Xiaomi manages a small inventory by releasing limited quantities of its
mobile phones per week. The drawback to this strategy is that eager consumers have to
wait for the items to hit the stores – resulting in potential lost sales. Still, Xiaomi still
benefits from keeping costs down and eliminating wastage.

Zara
Zara epitomizes “fast fashion” by owning their supply chain and being able to bring
items to market extraordinarily quickly.
The brand believes that inventory = death. It commits six months in advance to only 15
to 25 percent of a season’s line. And it only locks in 50% to 60% of its line by the start of
the season, meaning that up to 50% of its clothes are designed and manufactured right
in the middle of the season.
If a certain style or design suddenly becomes popular, Zara reacts quickly by designing
new styles and getting them into stores while the trend is still peaking, satisfying
seasonal demand and exploiting changing customer preferences.

References:

1. F. Robert Jacobs, William L. Berry, D. Clay Whybark, Thomas E. Vollman (2014)

Manufacturing Planning and Control for Supply Chain Management
2. Podolsky, T.C Cheng (1987) Just in Time Manufacturing (2 nd edition)
3. Chary, S.N (2004) Production and Operations Management.