JIT AND LEAN

Anyone who has never made a mistake has

never tried anything new
~ Albert Einstein

Manufacturing History
After World War II, U.S. was dominant manufacturing

power
Japan needed to rebuild infrastructure from wartime and
also deal with raw material scarcity
Waste and inefficiency could not be tolerated

Philosophy of Manufacturing
Make to Stock (MTS): Build as long as there is stock
Make to Order (MTO): Build only if an order exists
Assemble to Order (ATO): Assemble only if order exists

Can have a combination of the above within a company

Example: McDonalds

Toyota Approach
Terms
Muda: Waste and inefficiency
Pull system: Manufacturing only when demand is present
Kanban: Manual signal system used to control movement

of parts and material

Heijunka: Variations in production volume
Kaizen: Continuous improvement of the system
Jidoka: Quality at the source

JIT/Lean Production
Just-in-time (JIT): Repetitive production system in which

processing and movement of materials and goods occur

just as they are needed.
JIT is characteristic of lean production systems
JIT operates with very little waste

JIT Goals
Eliminate disruptions
Make system flexible by reducing setup and lead times
Eliminate waste, especially excess inventory (Work in

Progress and Finished Goods)

Sources of Waste (Muda)

Motion
Employees and/or machine
Delay
Waiting for parts/material or line stoppage

Conveyance
Inefficient layout, batch production, right-size equipment
Correction
Fixing defective parts

Sources of Waste (Muda)

Overprocessing
Too many features, technology for sake of technology
Inventory
Keeping unnecessary amounts of raw materials and Work in

Process (WIP)

Overproduction
Making more product than necessary
Knowledge disconnection
Lack of understanding between employees, departments,

suppliers, vendors, distributors and/or customers

Big JIT vs. Little JIT

Big JIT broad focus
Vendor relations
Human relations
Technology management
Materials and inventory management
Little JIT narrow focus
Scheduling materials
Scheduling services of production

JIT Building Blocks

Product design
Process design
Personnel/organizational

elements
Manufacturing
planning and control

Product Design
Standard parts
Modular design
Highly capable production systems
Concurrent engineering

Process Design
Small lot sizes
Setup time reduction
Single Minute Exchange of Die (SMED)
Manufacturing cells
Limited work in process (WIP)
Quality improvement
Limit or eliminate rework

Process Design
Production flexibility
Little inventory storage
System balance
Fail-safe methods
Poka-yoke Mistake Proofing

Benefits of Small Lot Sizes

Reduces inventory
Less rework
Less storage space
Problems are more apparent
Increases product flexibility
Easier to balance operations

Setup Time Reduction

Supports flexibility in manufacturing
Need for more expensive, specialized equipment is

diminished
Requires Single-Minute Exchange of Die (SMED)
Die: Referring to a mold

System Balance
Time needed for work at a process must be equal to or

less than the cycle time or Takt time

Takt time: Cycle time needed to match customer demand
for the finished good
Takt: German for musical meter
Pronounced: tact

System Balance
To determine Takt time:
1.

Calculate working time per shift

Total Time Available
per shift
Work Breaks

480 minutes
- 60 minutes

Working Time

420 minutes

System Balance
To determine Takt time:
2.

Calculate net working time per day

Working Time per shift 420 minutes
Number of shifts
x 2 shifts
Net Working Time

840 minutes

System Balance
To determine Takt time:
3.

Compute Takt time

Net Time per Day
Daily Demand

840 minutes
160 units

= 5.25 minutes per cycle

Production Flexibility
Advantage of achieving Production Flexibility is the

system is able to change quickly and painlessly

To achieve Production Flexibility:
Reduce downtime by reducing changeover time
Use preventive maintenance to reduce breakdowns
Cross-train workers to help clear bottlenecks
Reserve capacity for important customers

Personnel/Organizational Elements
The direct labor force is vital for lean operations
Treat workers as assets, not equipment or automatons
Cross-trained workers
Continuous improvement
Cost accounting
Need a system that accurately assigns overhead

Leadership/project management

Manufacturing Planning & Control

Required elements for lean systems
Level loading
Pull systems
Visual systems
Close vendor relationships
Reduced transaction processing
Preventive maintenance

Pull/Push Systems
Pull system: System for moving work where a

workstation pulls output from the preceding station as

needed. (e.g. Kanban)
Push system: System for moving work where output is

pushed to the next station as it is completed

Visual Systems
Signal to indicate status in a work area
Shout, wave
Andon light
Kanban card
Empty spot on the floor

Kanban Production Control System

Kanban: Card or other device that communicates

demand for work or materials from the preceding station

Kanban is the Japanese word meaning signal or visible
record
Paperless production control system
Authority to pull, or produce comes from a downstream
process.

Kanban (the visual system)

How many containers?

DT 1 X
N
C

N = Total number of containers

D = Planned usage rate of using WC
T = Average wait time + production time
X = Efficiency number (by policy)
C = Capacity per container

Number of containersN
Planned usage rate WC D 5000
Cycle Time
T 0.33
Efficiency Factor
X 0.02
Parts per Container
C 250
N

DT (1 + X)
C
1683
250
6.732 ~ 7

Traditional Supplier Network

Buyer
Buyer
Supplier
Supplier

Supplier
Supplier
Supplier
Supplier

Supplier
Supplier

Supplier
Supplier

Supplier
Supplier

Suppiler
Suppiler

Tiered Supplier Network

Buyer
Buyer

First Tier Supplier

Supplier
Supplier

Supplier
Supplier

Second Tier Supplier

Third Tier Supplier

Supplier
Supplier

Supplier
Supplier

Supplier
Supplier

Supplier
Supplier

Supplier
Supplier

Summary JIT Goals and Building Blocks

Ultimate
A
Goal balanced
rapid flow
Supporting
Goals

Reduce setup & lead times

Eliminate disruptions

Make the system flexible

Product
Design

Process
Design

Eliminate waste
Minimize inventories

Personnel
Elements

Manuf.
Planning

Building
Blocks

Converting to a JIT System

Get top management commitment
Obtain support of workers
Decide which parts need most effort
Start by trying to reduce setup times
Gradually convert operations
Convert suppliers to JIT
Prepare for obstacles

Obstacles to Conversion
Management may not be committed
Workers/management may not be cooperative
Culture change within organization is difficult
Suppliers may resist

JIT in Service
Basic goal of the demand flow technology in the service

organization is to provide optimum response to the

customer with the highest quality service at the lowest
possible cost.
Eliminate disruptions
Make system flexible
Reduce setup and lead times
Eliminate waste
Minimize WIP
Simplify the process

JIT Purchasing
New challenges
Meeting manufacturing requirements
Changing from traditional thinking and practices frequent on-time
delivery of small quantities
Long term relationships with suppliers as partners

JIT II
JIT II: the practice of allowing vendors to manage some

aspects of buying their products or services for the buyer

Allow suppliers and customers access to organizations information

Benefits of JIT Systems

Reduced inventory levels
High quality
Flexibility
Reduced lead times
Increased productivity

Benefits of JIT Systems (contd)

Increased equipment utilization
Reduced scrap and rework
Reduced space requirements
Pressure for good vendor relationships
Reduced need for indirect labor

Elements of JIT
Smooth flow of work (the ultimate goal)
Elimination of waste
Continuous improvement
Eliminating anything that does not add value
Simple systems that are easy to manage
Use of product layouts to minimize moving materials and

parts
Quality at the source

Elements of JIT (contd)

Poka-yoke fail safe tools and methods
Preventative maintenance
Good housekeeping
Set-up time reduction
Cross-trained employees
A pull system