TQM10.

JIT, SMED & ISHIKAWA

JIT

The Just in Time (JIT) manufacturing concept was founded in part due to the contribution of Dr. Shingo
Shigeo and Mr. Taichii Ohno of Toyota Motor Co. from 1949 to 1975. During this period, Dr. Shigeo took
charge of industrial engineering and factory improvement training at Toyota Motor Corporation. This is
commonly referred to as JIT or the Toyota Production.

System. The essential element in developing JIT was the use of the Ford System along with the realizatio
nthat factory workers had more to contribute than just muscle power. According to the American
Production and Inventory Control Society (APICS), JIT can be defined 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 times, queue lengths and lot
sizes; to incrementally revise the operations themselves; and to accomplish these things at minimum
cost.

The basic essence of JIT has been implemented to the new “continuous improvement” or “lean
manufacturing” wave in the industry today. The primary objective in implementing JIT to a production
facility is to obtain a competitive advantage and increased productivity by eliminating the following
seven types of wastes:
 Waste from overproduction
 Excess transportation
 Excess inventory
 Waiting time
 Processing waste
 Wasted motion
 Waste from production defects

SMED

The SMED system was born out of necessity, in order to achieve Just-In-Time production, one of
Toyota's manufacturing corner stones. This system was developed to cut set-up times, enabling smaller
batch sizes to be produced. The set-up procedures were simplified by using common or similar set-up
elements whenever possible. This approach was in complete contrast with traditional manufacturing
procedures, as Shingo pointed out, “It is generally and erroneously believed that the most effective
policies for dealing with set-ups address the problem in terms of skill. Although many companies have
set up policies designed to raise the skill level of the workers, few have implemented strategies that
lower the skill level required by the set-up itself.”
SMED uses the following four-step procedure:
1. Observe and Analyze how the Setup is Currently performed
Setups should be observed carefully and activity charts and worker-machine charts should be
constructed. Whenever possible, one should videotape the setups. This is not only helpful in
constructing the necessary data and charts; it is invaluable in showing workers what they are
currently doing and how the setup can be improved.
2. Separate Internal from External Setup Activities
One of the most effective ways to reduce setup times is to separate internal from external
activities and then to make a written setup plan that ensures that external setup activities are
performed while the process is operating. Some of the most common external setup activities
are preparing and testing parts and tools, transporting these to the machine, bringing materials
to be processed to the machine and transporting materials away from the machine such as
finished products to storage or waste to disposal bins.
3. Convert Internal to External Setup Activities
As Shingo found with setting up the engine-bed side planer, activities that appear to be internal
setup activities can sometimes be converted to external activities. Changing work methods,
adding work aids, or buying duplicate sets of tools or equipment can assist in this conversion.
4. Simplify and Streamline Activities
Once as many activities as possible have been assigned to external setup, setup time can be
reduced further by simplifying and streamlining work and by concentrating work more
effectively. Although reducing the time needed to perform any activity is likely to have some
benefit yet the primary focus should be on reducing the time for internal setup activities
because this will reduce production system idleness.

The principles of SMED have been applied to many situations other than setups for different products.
They can be used to minimize downtime while replacing parts or tools, such as drill bits in a drill, or
while performing maintenance and repair jobs. For example, steel, aluminum and paper manufacturers
regularly change the rolls on their rolling mills or paper machines as part of their preventive
maintenance.

Questions
1. Explain Poka?
2. What is zero quality control?
3. What is JIT?
4. Explain SMED system.
5. Zero Quality Control (ZQC) techniques make use of which engineering principles?
6. What is the best way to reduce setup activity? Which are the techniques that Shingo suggest?