Just-in-time

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What is Just-in-Time? Definition

Just-in-time was pioneered by Taiichi Ohno in Japan at the Toyota car assembly plants in the early 1970s. It is a manufacturing organization philosophy.  JIT decreases waste by supplying parts only when the assembly process requires them. At the heart of JIT lies the kanban, the Japanese word for card. This kanban card is sent to the warehouse to request a standard quantity of parts as and when they have been used up in the assembly/manufacturing process. JIT requires precision, as the right parts must arrive "just-in-time" at the right position (work station at the assembly line). It is used primarily for high-volume repetitive flow manufacturing processes.

History of Just-in-Time

Historically, the JIT philosophy arose out of two other things:

1. Japan's wish to improve its production quality. At that time, Japanese companies had a bad reputation as far as quality of manufacturing and car manufacturing in particular was concerned.
2. Kaizen, also a Japanese method of continuous improvement.

The Just-in-time framework regards inventories as a poor excuse for bad planning, inflexibility, wrong machinery, quality problems, etc. The target of JIT is to speed up customer response while minimizing inventories at the same time. Inventories help to respond quickly to changing customer demands, but inevitably cost money and increase the needed working capital.

In 1990 James Womack wrote a book called "The Machine That Changed The World", introducing the terminology 'Lean Manufacturing'. Also you may encounter the word: 'Lean Production'. The principles behind these approaches do not substantially differ from the techniques developed by Ohno at Toyota.

Attention Areas of Just-in-Time

Typical attention areas of JIT implementations include:

• Inventory reduction.
• Smaller production lots and batch sizes.
• Quality control.
• Complexity reduction and transparency.
• Flat organization structure and delegation.
• Waste minimization.

External extended Just-in-Time

Through the arrival of Internet and Supply Chain Planning software, companies have in the mean time extended Just-in-time manufacturing to outside the company borders. By demanding from their suppliers to deliver inventory to the factory only when it's needed for assembly, making JIT manufacturing, ordering and delivery processes even speedier, more flexible and more efficient. In this way, Integrated Supply Networks (Demand Networks) or Electronic Supply Chains are being formed.

Forum Start a new topic about Just-in-time Write here. Ask a question or explain something. Current forum discussions about Just-in-time: Definitions of Just-in-time JIT can be considered as: 1. A way of life 2. A philosophy of continuous improvement 3. A way to achieve manufacturing excellence by continually eliminating waste.... 20   5 comments The Principles of Lean Lean works on certain principles: 1. Identify customer specific value (customer requirements); 2. Value stream mapping for the process (identify process); 3. Create flow (reduce cycle time); 4. El... 20   4 comments Tips for Single Minute Exchange of Dies (SMED) Dear reader, I am currently working on a Single Minute Exchange of Dies (SMED) project in a beer production facility. To implement SMED, I need to determine the baseline on which processes are done n... 17   7 comments Conditions and Assumptions for Just-in-time (JIT) Assumptions for effective JIT: 1. It depends on the type of product a company is manufacturing. JIT works best in food (perishable) business, fashion but can also be applied in cars manufacturing lik... 16   7 comments Combining JIT and Outsourcing JIT and outsourcing go hand in hand. On one side it seems contradictory. JIT stands for producing and delivering to the customer what he wants when he wants. This is an extreme challenging condition.... 13   4 comments

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Expert Tips Advanced insights about Just-in-time. Here you will find professional advices by experts. Consultancy Tips Teaching Tips Practical Implementation Tips Main Advantages of JIT? Benefits of Just-in-time Among the main causes for the success of Just-in-time are its capabilities to deal with certain major economic trends: ... Lean Tools to Attack Waste Waste Management, Waste Tools Overview What lean tools you can use for every waste you can find at your company? Before you try to implement these lean tools ... 7 Things to Avoid in Just-in-Time Just-in-Time Pitfalls The seven zeros or seven areas of wastes in JIT / Lean Thinking are: - Zero Defects: To avoid delays due to defects -...

Information Sources Various sources of information regarding Just-in-time. Here you will find powerpoints, videos, news, etc. to use in your own lectures and workshops. Summary of Lean Manufacturing and Maintenance. History, Tools, PROs and CONs Operational Excellence, Maximizing Efficiency Detailed presentation about Lean Production, including the interesting origins of Lean Production in Toyota Motor Compan... The Role of Value Chain Functions, Quality Management and Innovation in Competitive Advantage Value Chain Management, Quality Management, Innovation, Operational Excellence This presentation firstly presents the role of functional strategies and the value chain in the achievement of competiti... Financial Consequences from Implementing Lean Manufacturing JIT, TQM In the last 30 years, many U.S. firms have adopted lean manufacturing strategies. Despite evidence of substantial variat...

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