JIT manufacturing

Just in time (JIT) is a production strategy that strives to improve a business’ return on investment by reducing in-process inventory and associated carrying costs. Just in time is a type of operations management approach which originated in Japan in the 1950s. It was adopted by Toyota and other Japanese manufacturing firms, with excellent results: Toyota and other companies that adopted the approach ended up raising productivity (through the elimination of waste) significantly. To meet JIT objectives, the process relies on signals or between different points, which are involved in the process, which tell production when to make the next part. Kanban are usually ‘tickets’ but can be simple visual signals, such as the presence or absence of a part on a shelf. Implemented correctly, JIT focuses on continuous improvement and can improve a manufacturing organization’s return on investment, quality, and efficiency. To achieve continuous improvement key areas of focus could be flow, employee involvement and quality. JIT relies on other elements in the inventory chain as well. For instance, its effective application cannot be independent of other key components of a lean manufacturing system or it can “end up with the opposite of the desired result.” In recent years manufacturers have continued to try to hone forecasting methods such as applying a trailing 13-week average as a better predictor for JIT planning; however, some research demonstrates that basing JIT on the presumption of stability is inherently flawed.