JUST IN TIME MANUFACTURING ( JIT )

JIT is a management philosophy that strives to eliminate sources of manufacturing waste by producing the right part in the right place at the right time. The Waste results from any activity that adds cost without adding value, such as moving and storing. The idea of producing the necessary units in the necessary quantities at the necessary time is described by the short term Just-in-time.

The implementation of this management philosophy in industries like the automobile industry can bring about a see saw change in both quality & quantity since in a JIT system, underutilized (excess) capacity is used instead of buffer inventories to hedge against problems that may arise.

This seminar gives an over view of the JUST IN TIME technique by considering the TOYOTA PRODUCTION SYSTEM in detail.

JUST IN TIME (JIT) is a management philosophy that strives to eliminate sources of manufacturing waste by producing the right part in the right place at the right time. Waste results from any activity, which adds cost without adding value, such as moving and storing. JIT (also known as stockless production) should improve profits and return on investment by reducing inventory levels (increasing the inventory turnover rate), improving product quality, reducing production and delivery lead times, and reducing other costs (such as those associated with machine setup and equipment breakdown).

The idea of producing the necessary units in the necessary quantities at the necessary time is described by the short term Just-in-time. Just-in-time means, for example, that in the process of assembling the parts to build a car, the necessary kind of sub-assemblies of the preceding processes should arrive at the product line at the time needed in the necessary quantities. If Just-in-time is realized in the entire firm, then unnecessary inventories in the factory will be completely eliminated, making stores or warehouses unnecessary. The inventory carrying costs will be diminished, and the ratio of capital turnover will be increased.

The implementation of this management philosophy in industries like the automobile industry can bring about a see saw change in both quality & quantity since in a JIT system, underutilized (excess) capacity is used instead of buffer inventories to hedge against problems that may arise. JIT applies primarily to repetitive manufacturing processes in which the same products and components are produced over and over again. The general idea is to establish flow processes (even when the facility uses a jobbing or batch process layout) by linking work centres so that there is an even, balanced flow of materials throughout the entire production process, similar to that found in an assembly line. To accomplish this, an attempt is made to reach the goals of driving all queues toward zero and achieving the ideal lot size of one unit.

This new trend in engineering production, which originally refers to the production of goods to meet customer demand exactly, in time, quality and quantity, reduces wastage by nearly 55-75%.  "Waste" in this context is taken in its most general sense and includes time and resources as well as goods. This concept can really change the phase of industrial production of goods like car & other important utilities.

JIT – BACKGROUND AND HISTORY 

JIT is a Japanese management philosophy, which has been applied in practice since the early 1980s in many Japanese manufacturing organizations. It was first developed and perfected within the Toyota manufacturing plants by Taiichi Ohno as a means of meeting consumer demands with minimum delays. Taiichi Ohno is frequently referred to as the father of JIT.

Toyota was able to meet the increasing challenges for survival through an approach that focused on people, plants and systems. Toyota realised that JIT would only be successful if every individual within the organisation was involved and committed to it, if the plant and processes were arranged for maximum output and efficiency, and if quality and production programs were scheduled to meet demands exactly.

JIT manufacturing has the capacity, when properly adapted to the organization, to strengthen the organization’s competitiveness in the market place substantially by reducing wastes and improving product quality and efficiency of production.

There are strong cultural aspects associated with the emergence of JIT in Japan.

The Japanese work ethics involves the following concepts.

·        Workers are highly motivated to seek constant improvement upon that which already exists. Although high standards are currently being met, there exist even higher standards to achieve.

·        Companies focus on group effort, which involves the combining of talents and sharing knowledge, problem-solving skills, ideas and the achievement of a common goal.

·        Work itself takes precedence over leisure. It is not unusual for a Japanese employee to work 14-hour days.

·        Employees tend to remain with one company throughout the course of their career span. This allows the opportunity for them to hone their skills and abilities at a constant rate while offering numerous benefits to the company.

These benefits manifest themselves in employee loyalty, low turnover costs and fulfillment of company goals. 

ELEMENTS OF JIT

There are some very important elements in just in time manufacturing which makes it a successful philosophy. They are

·        Attacking fundamental problems - anything that does not add value to the product.

·        Devising systems to identify problems.

·        Striving for simplicity - simpler systems may be easier to understand, easier to manage and less likely to go wrong.

·        A product oriented layout - produces less time spent moving of materials and parts.

·        Quality control at source - each worker is responsible for the quality of his or her own output.

·        Poka-yoke - `foolproof' tools, methods, jigs etc. prevent mistakes

·        Preventive maintenance, Total productive maintenance - ensuring machinery and equipment function perfectly when it is required, and continually improving it.

·        Eliminating waste.

There are seven types of waste:

1.     Waste from overproduction.

2.     Waste of waiting time.

3.     Transportation waste.

4.     Processing waste.

5.     Inventory waste.

6.     Unnecessary movement of people.

7.     Waste from product defects.

·        Good housekeeping - workplace cleanliness and organization.

·        Set-up time reduction - increases flexibility and allows smaller batches. Ideal batch size is 1item. Multi-process handling - a multi-skilled workforce has greater productivity, flexibility and job satisfaction.

·        Levelled / mixed production - to smooth the flow of products through the factory.

·        Kanbans - simple tools to `pull' products and components through the process.

·        Jidoka (Automation) - providing machines with the autonomous capability to use judgement, so workers can do more useful things than standing watching them work.

·        Andon (trouble lights) - to signal problems to initiate corrective action.

The poka yoke system and Andon or visual control system is very significant, so are discussed in detail.

CONCLUSION 

From this study, it is understood that, in this modern competitive world, where only those industries, which provide maximum customer satisfaction at attracting prices can succeed, the JIT system plays an important role, as it reduces the manufacturing time & wastage, during production. Thus it increases the amount of goods produced and decreases the cost of production of these goods.

This seminar stresses the need to implement JIT technique in Automobile industries &other modern industries where large-scale production takes place.