Just in Time (JIT) Manufacturing

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Just in Time (JIT) Manufacturing Introduction Just in Time (JIT) manufacturing is a combined management philosophy and production system, first pioneered by the Toyota Motor Company of Japan in the 1950’s. “The basic elements of JIT . . . became known as the Toyota Production System (TPS). JIT was firmly in place in numerous Japanese plants by the early 1970's. JIT began to be adopted in the U.S. in the 1980's.” (Just in time (JIT) production, 2004). Just in Time (JIT) is a concept designed to eliminate waste. According to “Just in Time (JIT) Production” (2004), “Waste results from any activity that adds cost without adding value, such as moving and storing.” This paper shall evaluate the impact of JIT on operations and supply chain performance in general, and at Toyota Motor Company in particular. According to Just in time (JIT) production, 2004: 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 centers 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. Key Elements of Just-in-time (JIT) A key element of Just in time (JIT) production is that manufacturing equipment, materials, and human labor are made available only as and when needed. Only necessary units are produced, in necessary quantity, “exactly in line with market demand” (Just-in-time-manufacturing, 1995). As Lee (2004) suggests, however, supply chain needs are fluid and ever-changing, based on

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