1
Just-in-Time/Lean Production
A repetitive production system
in which the processing and movement
of materials and goods occur
just as they are needed!
2
Pre-JIT: Traditional Mass Production
Big lot sizes
Lots of inventory
”PUSH” material to next
stage
Lower
per unit
cost
Big purchase shipments
Big “pushes” of finished goods
to warehouses or customers
???
3
Post-JIT: “Lean Production”
Tighter coordination along the supply chain
Goods are pulled along
— only make and ship what is needed
Smaller lots
Faster setups
Less inventory, storage space
”PULL” material to next stage
Minimal
or no
inventory
holding
cost
Smaller shipments
Goods are pulled out of
plant by customer demand
4
JIT Goals
(throughout the supply chain)
•Eliminate disruptions
•Make the system flexible
•Reduce setup times and lead times
•Minimize inventory
•Eliminate waste
5
Waste
Definition:
Waste is ‘anything other than the minimum
amount of equipment, materials, parts,
space, and worker’s time, which are
absolutely essential to add value to the
product.’
— Shoichiro Toyoda
President, Toyota
6
Forms of Waste:
•Overproduction
•Waiting time
•Transportation
•Processing
•Inventory
•Motion
•Product Defects
7
Inventory as a Waste
•Requires more storage space
•Requires tracking and counting
•Increases movement activity
•Hides yield, scrap, and rework
problems
•Increases risk of loss from theft,
damage, obsolescence
8
Building Blocks of JIT
•Product design
Standard parts
Modular design
Quality
•Process design
•Personnel and organizational elements
•Manufacturing planning and control
MPC
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9
Process Design
•“Focused Factories”
•Group Technology
•Simplified layouts with little storage
space
•Minimum setups
10
Personnel and Organizational
Elements
•Workers as assets
•Cross-trained workers
•Greater responsibility at lower levels
•Leaders as facilitators, not order givers
11
Planning and Control Systems
•“Small” JIT
•Stable and level schedules
–Mixed Model Scheduling
•“Push” versus “Pull”
–Kanban Systems
12
Kanban
Uses simple visual signals to control
production
•Examples:
empty slot in hamburger chute
empty space on floor
kanban card
13
Kanban Example
Workcenter B uses parts produced by Workcenter A
How can we control the flow of materials so that B always
has parts and A doesn’t overproduce?
Workcenter A Workcenter B
14
When a container is opened by Workcenter B, its kanban card is
removed and sent back to Workcenter A.
This is a signal to Workcenter A to produce another box of parts.
Kanban card: Signal to produce
Workcenter A Workcenter B
Kanban Card
15
Empty Box: Signal to pull
Empty box sent back. Signal to pull another full box into
Workcenter B.
Workcenter A Workcenter B