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Special topic: just-in-time and lean systems

24 February, 2015 - 17:30

Just-in-time (JIT) is a management philosophy that originated in the 1970s. Taiichi Ohno is credited with developing JIT and perfected it for Toyota’s manufacturing plants in Japan. The main goal of JIT is to eliminate anything that does not add value from the customer’s perspective. Non-value-added activities are referred to as “waste” in JIT. Examples of waste include:

  • overproduction beyond what is needed to satisfy immediate demand
  • waiting time (work-in-process, customer waiting)
  • unnecessary transportation (material handling, customer travel through a facility, etc.)
  • processing waste (yield rates, start-up costs)
  • inventory storage waste (space, deterioration, obsolescence, etc.)
  • unnecessary motion and activity (waste in work techniques, etc.)
  • waste from product and service defects (rework, scrap, warranty, etc.)

There are three essential elements that contribute to the successful practice of JIT:

  • JIT manufacturing principles
  • Total Quality Management (TQM)
  • employee empowerment