Just-in-time (JIT) /

Lean
Manufacturing

Prof. Sanjay Jharkharia

APICS Definition of JIT

A philosophy of manufacturing based
on planned elimination of waste and
continuous improvement of
productivity. ...

Prof. Sanjay Jharkharia

Seven Wastes
Overproduction
Queues
Transportation
Inventory
Motion
Over-processing
Defective product
Prof. Sanjay Jharkharia

APICS Definition of JIT

The primary elements of Just-in-Time
are to:
have only the required inventory when
needed,
improve quality to zero defects,
reduce lead times by reducing setup times,
queue lengths, and lot sizes,
incrementally revise the operations
themselves, and
accomplish these things at minimum cost.
Prof. Sanjay Jharkharia

 Key

Traditional View of
Manufacturing

objective was to fully utilize capacity so

that more products were produced by fewer
workers and machines.
How? With large queues of in-process
inventory waiting at work centers.
Workers and machines never had to wait for
product to work on, so capacity utilization
was high and production costs were low.
Result: Products spent most of their time in
manufacturing just waiting, an arrangement
that is unacceptable in todays time-based
competition.
Prof. Sanjay Jharkharia

JIT Manufacturing
Philosophy
The

main objectives of JIT

manufacturing are to reduce wastes
and manufacturing lead times.
This is primarily achieved by drastic
reductions in work-in-process (WIP).
The result is a smooth, uninterrupted
flow of small lots of products
throughout production.
Prof. Sanjay Jharkharia

Successful JIT Applications

Most

successful JIT applications have been in

Repetitive Manufacturing, where batches of
standard products are produced at high
speeds and in high volumes.
Successful use of JIT is rare in large, highly
complex job shops where production planning
and control is extremely complicated.
Smaller, less complex job shops have used
JIT, but operations have been changed so that
they behave somewhat like repetitive
manufacturing.

Prof. Sanjay Jharkharia

Changes Required for JIT

JIT requires certain changes to the
factory and the way it is managed:

Stabilize production schedules

Make the factories more focused
Improve product quality
Cross-train workers
Reduce equipment breakdowns
Develop long-term supplier relations
Prof. Sanjay Jharkharia

Elements of JIT
Manufacturing

Eliminating

waste
Enforced problem solving and continuous
improvement
People make JIT work
Total Quality Management (TQM)
Parallel processing
Kanban (pull type) production system
JIT purchasing
Reducing inventories
Working toward repetitive manufacturing
Prof. Sanjay Jharkharia

Eliminating Waste in
Manufacturing

Make

only what is needed now.

Reduce waiting by coordinating flows and
balancing loads.
Reduce or eliminate material handling and
shipping.
Eliminate all unneeded production steps.
Reduce setup times and increase
production rates.
Eliminate unnecessary human motions.
Eliminate defects and inspection.
Prof. Sanjay Jharkharia

10

Problem Solving and

Continuous Improvement
JIT

is a system of enforced problem solving.

One approach is to lower inventory gradually
to expose problems and force their solution.
With no buffer inventories to offset production
interruptions, problems are highly visible and
cannot be ignored.
The job of eliminating production problems is
never finished.
Continuous improvement -- or KAIZEN -- is
central to the philosophy of JIT.
Prof. Sanjay Jharkharia

11

Uncovering Production
Problems

Work in process inventory level

(hides problems)

Unreliable
Vendors

Scrap
Prof. Sanjay Jharkharia

Capacity
Imbalances
12

Uncovering Production
Problems
Reducing inventory reveals
problems to be corrected.

Unreliable
Vendors

Scrap
Prof. Sanjay Jharkharia

Capacity
Imbalances
13

People Make JIT Work

JIT

has a strong element of training and

involvement of workers.
A culture of mutual trust and teamwork
must be developed.
An attitude of loyalty to the team and selfdiscipline must be developed.
Another crucial element of JIT is
empowerment of workers, giving them
the authority to solve production
problems.
Prof. Sanjay Jharkharia

14

TQM and JIT

Long-term

relationships with suppliers

Certified suppliers eliminate incoming

inspection
Share design process for new products
Simplify

design/processes

Poka-yoke (Correct the defect before it

leaves the fixture)
Process capable of meeting tolerances
Operators responsible for quality of own
work
Prof. Sanjay Jharkharia

15

JIT: A Pull System

In

a Push System, such as an MRP

system, we look at the schedule to
determine what to produce next.
In a Pull System, such as JIT, we look
only at the next stage of production
and determine what is needed there,
and then we produce only that.

Prof. Sanjay Jharkharia

16

Kanban Production
Control
At

the core of JIT manufacturing at

Toyota is Kanban, an amazingly simple
system of planning and controlling
production.
Kanban, in Japanese, means card or
marquee.

Prof. Sanjay Jharkharia

17

Kanbans and Other

Signals
There

are two types of Kanban cards:

a Conveyance or Withdrawal Card (CKanban)

a Production Card (P-Kanban)
Signals

come in many forms other

than cards, including:
an empty crate
an empty designated location on the floor
Prof. Sanjay Jharkharia

18

Conveyance (Withdrawal)
Kanban
Conveyance Kanban Card
Part number to produce: M471-36

Part description: Valve Housing

Lot size needed: 40

Container type: RED Crate

Card number: 2 of 5

Retrieval storage location: NW53D

From work center: 22

To work center: 35

Prof. Sanjay Jharkharia

19

Production Kanban
Production Kanban Card
Part number to produce: M471-36

Part description: Valve Housing

Lot size needed: 40

Container type: RED crate

Card number: 4 of 5

Completed storage location: NW53D

From work center: 22

To work center: 35

Materials required:
Material no. 744B
Part no. B238-5

Storage location: NW48C

Storage location: NW47B
Prof. Sanjay Jharkharia

20

Essential Elements of JIT Purchasing

Cooperative

and long-term relationship

between customer and supplier.
Supplier selection based not only on price,
but also delivery schedules, product
quality, and mutual trust.
Suppliers are usually located near the
buyers factory.
Shipments are delivered directly to the
customers production line.
Parts are delivered in small, standard-size
containers with a minimum of paperwork
and in exact quantities.
Delivered material is of near-perfect quality.
Prof. Sanjay Jharkharia

21

Benefits of JIT
Inventory

levels are drastically reduced:

frees up working capital for other projects

less space is needed
customer responsiveness increases
Total

product cycle time drops

Product quality is improved
Scrap and rework costs go down
Forces managers to fix problems and
eliminate waste .... or it wont work!
Prof. Sanjay Jharkharia

22

JIT Partnerships
Quantities
Share forecasts of demand
Frequent deliveries of small-lot quantities
Long-term contract
Minimal paperwork to release order (EDI or
the Internet)
Little or no permissible overage or underage
Suppliers package in exact quantities
Suppliers reduce production lot sizes
Prof. Sanjay Jharkharia

23

Impact on Employees
Employees are cross trained for
flexibility and efficiency
Improved communications
facilitate the passing on of
important information about the
process
With little or no inventory buffer,
getting it right the first time is
critical
Prof. Sanjay Jharkharia

24

Reduce Lot Sizes

Ideal situation is to have lot sizes of
one pulled from one process to the
next
Often not feasible
Can use EOQ analysis to calculate
desired setup time
Two key changes
Improve material handling
Reduce setup time

Prof. Sanjay Jharkharia

25

Reduce Setup Costs

High setup costs encourage large lot
sizes
Reducing setup costs reduces lot
size and reduces average inventory
Setup time can be reduced through
preparation prior to shutdown and
changeover
Prof. Sanjay Jharkharia

26

Reduce Setup Times

Initial Setup Time

Step 1

90 min

Separate setup into preparation and actual

setup, doing as much as possible while the
machine/process is operating
(save 30 minutes)
Move material closer and
improve material handling
(save 20 minutes)

Step 2

Standardize and
improve tooling
(save 15 minutes)

Step 3

Step 4
Step 5

Use one-touch system to eliminate

adjustments (save 10 minutes)
Training operators and standardizing
work procedures (save 2 minutes)
Repeat
cycle until subminute
Prof.
Sanjay Jharkharia
setup is achieved

60 min

45 min

25 min
15 min
13 min
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Scheduling
Schedules must be communicated
inside and outside the organization
Level schedules
Process frequent small batches
Freezing the schedule helps stability

Prof. Sanjay Jharkharia

28

Quality
Strong relationship
JIT cuts the cost of obtaining good
quality because JIT exposes poor quality
Because lead times are shorter, quality
problems are exposed sooner
Better quality means fewer buffers and
allows simpler JIT systems to be used

Prof. Sanjay Jharkharia

29

JIT Quality Tactics

Use statistical process control
Empower employees
Build fail-safe methods (pokayoke, checklists, etc.)
Expose poor quality with small lot
JIT
Provide immediate feedback
Prof. Sanjay Jharkharia

30

Employee
Empowerment

Empowered employees bring their

knowledge and involvement to daily
operations
Some traditional staff tasks can move
to empowered employees
Training, cross-training, and fewer job
classifications can mean enriched jobs
Companies gain from increased
commitment from employees
Prof. Sanjay Jharkharia

31

The 5 Ss
Sort/segregate
Simplify/straighten
Shine/sweep
Standardize
Sustain/self discipline

Prof. Sanjay Jharkharia

32

Questions!

Prof. Sanjay Jharkharia

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