Just in time

Just In Time is an optimal material requirement planning system for a manufacturing process in which there is little or no manufacturing material inventory on hand at the manufacturing site and little or no incoming inspection.

Just in time

Leading Japanese companies attribute their success in reducing waste and speeding production to the implementation of so called Just In Time ( JIT ) methods of working. It is also known as stockless production because the aim is to receive supplies and manufacture components Just in time for next operation. In JIT, the ideal inventory is one.

Just in time

Just in time

First sell it, then make it : JIT reverses the conventional approach of first making and then selling. Ideally nothing is produced unless a customer is identified. In some Japanese factories the cars are shipped with the customer’s name already attached.

This helps in reducing inventories , warehousing and other holding costs.

Just in time

From finish to start: JIT reverses the conventional approach of planning production from start to finish. Employees responsible for final operation receive the production plan first. The organization is forced to get the production process right before commencing production.

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Just-In-Time Production Systems

Just-in-Time (JIT) is a philosophy of continuous improvement in which non-value-adding activities (or wastes) are identified and removed for the purposes of reducing cost, improving quality, performance, delivery and flexibility and increasing innovativeness.

JIT is not about automation. Typically, JIT eliminates waste by providing the environment to perfect and simplify the process(es). After this is done to the furthest extent possible, the opportunities for applying technology effectively are more obvious.

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Implementing JIT Production Systems

JIT can mean either of two things:

A collection of techniques that is used to improve operations (TQM, set-up time reduction, multi-skilled employees, team approaches, simultaneous engineering, etc.);

or,

A new production system that is used to produce goods or services (evolving from the Toyota Production System developed in the early 1950's, and is know by other terms, such as: stockless production, zero inventories, lean production, etc.).

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Implementing JIT Production Systems

The American Production and Inventory Control Society's definition of JIT reflects these two views. They define JIT as:

A philosophy of manufacturing based on planned elimination of all waste and continuous improvement of productivity. It encompasses the successful execution of all manufacturing activities required to produce a final product, from design engineering to delivery and including all stages of conversion from raw material onward.

The primary elements include having only the required inventory when needed; to improve quality to zero defects; to reduce lead time by reducing setup time, queue lengths and lot sizes; to incrementally revise the operations themselves; and to accomplish these things at minimum cost.

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Implementing JIT Production Systems

Almost all companies in repetitive manufacturing industries are implementing JIT principles.

Many companies in non-repetitive manufacturing industries and service industries are also implementing JIT principles. When the implementation is successful, significant competitive advantages are realized.

JIT principles can be applied to all parts of an organization - from order taking, purchasing, operations, distribution to sales, accounting design, etc. This guideline focuses on the operations part of the organization, where JIT is traditionally implemented first.

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Implementing JIT Production Systems

Defining Production Systems

Good or services are produced by a production system. A production system can be divided into six subsystems or areas, including: human resources policies; organization structure and controls; sourcing; production planning and control; process technology; and facilities. These six subsystems or areas interact to form a production system, whose outputs are goods or services with certain levels of cost, quality, performance, delivery, flexibility and innovativeness. There are only three different production systems:

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Implementing JIT Production Systems

• The craft production system - designed to produce a wide variety of low volume/high value products. The facility and equipment are general purpose and very flexible. The craft production system includes job shop and small batch production.

• The mass production system - designed to produce a very small number of high volume/low unit value products. The facility and equipment are specialized and highly automated.

• The Just-In-Time production system - designed to produce many products in low to medium volumes on a line flow.

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Implementing JIT Production Systems

There are major differences between the production systems.

First, each production system is designed to produce different numbers of products in different volumes.

Second, each system arranges its equipment in a different layout. The material flow is different because of that layout.

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Implementing JIT Production Systems

Third and most important, each provides different levels of output viz:

1.cost

2.quality

3.performance

4.delivery

5.flexibility

6.innovativeness output.

The JIT production system can make improvements in all the 6 outputs mentioned above.

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Implementing JIT Production Systems

Implementing a JIT production system consists of completing a sequence of projects, each of which makes changes to one or more of the six subsystems that comprise the production system.

The sequence of projects is divided into two parts, those being the preliminary and main projects.

The preliminary projects have two goals, to achieve early, visible successes, and to prepare a foundation for the more difficult projects to follow. The main projects are further divided into three phases.

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Implementing JIT Production Systems

It is important to track the progress of each project, and so at the start of each project, performance measures, such as quality attributes, repair costs, inventory levels, lot sizes, cycle time, setup time, etc., are selected.

The measures are then tracked on display boards, so that everyone can follow each project's progress.

Tracking ensures that the improvement made during a project do no go unnoticed. It also helps to build enthusiasm and momentum, and helps to keep each project on course.

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Becoming a Time-Based Competitor

Broadly speaking, an organization competes on the basis of quality, cost, flexibility and time. These factors are complementary, even symbiotic. Today's discriminating customer demands world-class quality at a competitive price. When all the leading companies in an industry have achieved a high level of quality, a focus on quality alone cannot keep a company competitive.

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Becoming a Time-Based Competitor

Quality then becomes a common expected factor, which must be complemented by a faster response time and flexibility. Increasingly, cost and quality are viewed as residuals or outcomes of competing on the basis of time and flexibility.

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JIT and Time-Based

Competition

In business, time is not infinite and limitless. Competing on the basis of time is defined to include the following:

using time as a strategic weapon

identifying market opportunities

responding to those opportunities before competitors do and

eliminating non-value-added activities.

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JIT and Time-Based Competition

Time-compressed competitors measure the cycle time and lead time of all-important activities. Cycle time is their staple measurement. Cycle time in this guideline is defined as the duration from the initial expression of a customer's need to the point when that need is satisfied. This cycle encompasses the entire value-added chain of a company's product or service delivery process.

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JIT and Time-Based Competition

The overall delivery chain is composed of several key work processes, which in this context are not functional departments, but are the logical outputs performed by groups of people from different functions. Some work processes and costs add value for customers, while others do not. For example, adding cost in the form of better raw materials or hand finishing a portion of the product adds value. But many overhead items, such as factory rework or the cost of idle assets, add cost but no value.

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JIT and Time-Based Competition

Fast-cycle capability contributes to better performance across the board.

Costs drop because production materials and overhead do not accumulate as work-in-process inventory.

Customer service improves because the lead-time from receipt of order to shipment diminishes.

Quality is higher because the production cycle overall cannot speed up unless everything is done right the first time.

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JIT and Time-Based Competition

Time advantage is also an organizational capability - a level of performance that management shapes and builds into the company.

The basic idea is to build on organizational operating systems that perform without the bottlenecks, delays, errors and inventories most companies live with.

The faster that information, decisions and materials can flow through a large organization, the faster the conditions.

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JIT and Time-Based Competition

In summary, time-advantaged companies enjoy one or more of the following benefits, relative to their peers: increased productivity; pricing flexibility; reduced risks; reduced costs and increased response capability.

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