Just In Time

Efficiency in Manufacturing
Troy Buchanan 10/11/2007

Introduction
The premise of Just in Time, or JIT for short was developed by Toyota Motor Corporation in the early 1980s. Initially, it was used to describe how parts and materials should be utilized within the plant to maximize efficiency. In more recent times the term has been appropriated by the manufacturing industry in general, and has come to describe relationships not only within a plant, but between suppliers and manufacturers as well. (Strategos, Inc.)

Origin
JIT or Lean Manufacturing as its more commonly known today was perfected by Toyota, but has its roots based in the American concept of mass production. The first well-known instance of mass-production was when Eli Whitney received a contract from the U.S. Army to manufacture muskets. (Strategos, Inc.) Whitney was to build 10000 muskets in two years time. At the time, he had no factory, no workers and after taking a financial beating on the invention of the cotton gin, he had very little money. But out of this arose the beginnings of the American Industrial Revolution. He created machinery that would make the work of creating the muskets more suitable for unskilled labor as opposed to needing specially trained gunsmiths. (The Eli Whitney Museum & Workshop) The parts would be interchangeable, making it easier to repair the weapons in the field. It took ten years for Whitney to fill the order for the Army, but by doing so proved that the concept of mass-production would change the face of manufacturing forever.

Expansion
Expansion of the mass-production system came in the early 1900s with the advent of the car and the Ford Motor Company. While Ford didnt invent mass-production, he definitely took the theory to new heights. In his effort to produce cars that every man could afford, and in great enough quantity, Ford utilized and perfected a system of mass-production that is still in use even today. This

allowed him to produce more cars faster, with higher quality and more inexpensively than anyone else. A byproduct of this prosperity was that Fords employees made a spectacular wage for the time, and were able to afford the cars they were making. This resulted in sales of more Ford automobiles. (The Great Idea Finder) The apex of the Ford version of mass production was during the war effort in the 1940s. At a time when many manufacturing industries still were not embracing the mass-production principle, including the aircraft industry, Ford began building a plant in Michigan called Willow Run. For a time, Willow Run was the largest factory under a single roof. It was constructed specifically for the mass-production of the B-24 bomber. While other aircraft manufacturers were busy building one at a time, at its peak Fords Willow Run plant was turning out one B-24 per hour. Again, this was a testament to mass-production and Fords ability to apply the principle to a multitude of manufacturing industries. (Michigan History Online)

Post WWII
After World War II, the Ford system of mass-production was introduced to the Japanese who, over time, refined the idea and gave us the Toyota Production System (TPS). Toyota saw advantages in mass-production and adopted it for their post-WWII manufacturing strategy. As they began to truly embrace the system, they began to see some inefficiency and started working to make it more streamlined. One noticeable was in their tooling operations. Toyota management began to experiment with common tooling between vehicle lines, such as paint-spraying, welding and subassemblies. These experiments paid off, and encouraged management to begin looking for more ways to improve efficiency. Eventually, this lead to the system of JIT as we know it today. Some assembly stations went so far as to only have one part on hand at any time. When that part was used, it was a signal for someone to bring a replacement part right away. While this method had its trials in the beginning with shortages and quality control issues, within a short time the disruptions were minimized and JIT became the system of

choice for manufacturing world-wide. (Japan-101 Information Resource)

JIT Strengths and Weaknesses

While JIT works for some businesses, for others it can be detrimental. If an auto manufacturer is using JIT production methods, someone somewhere down the line has to hold some amount of inventory as a contingency. Not every supplier in the manufacturing chain has the luxury of only ordering exactly the materials they need. If inclement weather, strikes or supply shortages were to cause a supplier to not be able to provide an item needed in the manufacturing process, more than likely the supplier would be penalized fairly severely. So, we can see that the burden of inventory control is passed down the line to other suppliers from the JIT manufacturer. (BBC) JIT can lead to some environmental problems and additional costs as well. While less space and materials for storage facilities are needed, in some cases there is a greater cost, both monetarily and environmentally, in moving parts quickly from supplier to manufacturer. (BBC) As mentioned previously, shocks further down the supply chain can roll uphill to the manufacturer. If a supplier that provides seating for a vehicle were to have a catastrophe requiring the shut down of the plant, then the JIT manufacturer at the top of the chain would be without seats until the supplier either came back on-line, or another supplier could be found. This would more than likely result in a slowdown or even stoppage of production at the JIT manufacturer. (Wikipedia) In some instances there can be quality control issues. Since the quality of each part isnt usually inspected at assembly time, defects may not be noticed right away in the streamlined JIT environment. (BBC) While I have been pointing out the negatives, there are positives for the JIT manufacturer. A decrease in storage space and the costs associated with it would be a sizable benefit to a company. Another benefit would be an increase in capital due to the fact that its not tied up in physical inventory costs.

Applications
Aside from the obvious applications in the automotive industry, JIT can be valuable to a multitude of other industries as well. As noted in the Expansion portion of this document, the mass-production model has successfully been applied to the aircraft industry in the past. This continues even today. The electronics industry is another leader in JIT usage. Everything from component manufacturers to computer manufacturers utilizes the JIT model. Dell is a prime example with their made to order computers. Very little inventory is held due to the custom nature of their business. (Kros, Mauro and Nadler)

Conclusion
In conclusion, we see that JIT has been a work in progress for nearly 130 years. From Eli Whitney and his first forays into mass-production, to Henry Ford and his optimization of the system, to Toyota and their refinement of the mass-production system into the JIT model used by a multitude of manufacturers today, JIT is a business model that increases liquidity, efficiency, and in turn profits for the companies that understand, implement and utilize it to its fullest potential.

Works Cited
BBC. BBC - h2g2 Just-in-Time Manufacturing. 25 September 2001. 08 October 2007 <http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/A593769>. Japan-101 Information Resource. Just in Time, or JIT - Toyota's Manufacturing Technique. 08 October 2007 <http://www.japan101.com/business/just_in_time.htm>. Kros, John F., Falasca Mauro and S. Scott Nadler. Impact of just-in-time inventory systems on OEM suppliers. 08 October 2007 <http://www.emeraldinsight.com/Insight/ViewContentServlet? Filename=Published/EmeraldFullTextArticle/Articles/0291060206.html>. Michigan History Online. Henry Ford's Willow Run Bomber Plant. September 1993. 08 October 2007 <http://www.michiganhistorymagazine.com/extra/willow_run/willow_run.html>.

Strategos, Inc. Just In Time Production(JIT) - Variations on a Theme From Toyota. 08 October 2007 <http://www.strategosinc.com/just-in-time_production.htm>. . Just In Time, Toyota Production System & Lean Manufacturing - Origins & History Lean Manufacturing. 08 October 2007 <http://www.strategosinc.com/just_in_time.htm>. The Eli Whitney Museum & Workshop. The Eli Whitney Museum & Workshop. 08 October 2007 <http://www.eliwhitney.org/change.htm>. The Great Idea Finder. Fascinating facts about Henry Ford inventor of mass production in 1913. 21 May 2007. 08 October 2007 <http://www.ideafinder.com/history/inventors/ford.htm>. Wikipedia. Just In Time (business) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. 06 October 2007. 08 October 2007 <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Just_In_Time_%28business %29>.