A CASE STUDY OF JUST IN TIME (JIT) IN TOYOTA 2016-17

INTRODUCTION

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 that adds cost without adding value, such as moving and
storing. Just-in-time (JIT) should improve profits and return on
investment by reducing inventory levels (increasing the inventory
turnover rate), reducing variability, improving product quality,
reducing production and delivery lead times, and reducing other
costs (such as those associated with machine setup and
equipment breakdown). In a JIT system, excess capacity is used
instead of buffer inventories to hedge against problems that may
arise.

JIT was developed as a means of meeting customer demands with

minimum delays. Thus, in the olden days, JIT is used not to reduce
manufacturing wastage, but primarily to produce goods so that
customer orders are met exactly when they need the products.

Dept. of ME, VCET puttur Page 1

A CASE STUDY OF JUST IN TIME (JIT) IN TOYOTA 2016-17

History of Just in Time:

Just-In-Time is a Japanese manufacturing management method
developed in 1970s. It was first adopted by Toyota manufacturing
plants by Taiichi Ohno. The main concern at that time was to meet
consumer demands. Because of the success of JIT management,
Taiichi Ohno was named the Father of JIT.

After the first introduction of JIT by Toyota, many companies

followed up and around mid-1970s, it gained extended support
and widely used by many companies. One motivated reason for
developing JIT and some other better production techniques was
that after World War II, Japanese people had a very strong
incentive to develop a good manufacturing technique to help
them rebuilding the economy. They also had a strong working
ethnic which was concentrated on work rather than leisure,
seeked continuous improvement, life commitment to work, group
conscious rather than individualism and achieved common goal.
This kind of motivation had driven Japanese economy to succeed.
Because of the natural constraints and the economy constraints
after World War II, Japanese Manufacturers looked for a way to
gain the most efficient use of limited resources. They worked on
"optimal cost/quality relationship".

Before the introduction of JIT, there were a lot of manufacturing

defects for the existing system at that time. According to Hirano,
this included inventory problem, product defects, risen cost, large
lot production and delivery delays. The inventory problems

Dept. of ME, VCET puttur Page 2

A CASE STUDY OF JUST IN TIME (JIT) IN TOYOTA 2016-17

included the unused accumulated inventory that was not only

unproductive, but also required a lot of effort in storing and
managing them. Other implied problems such as parts storage,
equipment breakdowns, and uneven production levels. For the
product defects, manufacturers knew that only one single product
defects can destroy the producers creditability. They must create
a "defect-free" process. Instead of large lot production - producing
one type of products, they awaked that they should produce more
diversified goods. There was also a problem of rising cost, the
existing system could not reduce cost any further but remember
improvement always leads to cost reduction.

Lastly, the existing system did not manage well for fast delivery
request, so, there was a need to have a faster and reliable
delivery system in order to handle customers needs. Thus, JIT
manufacturing management was developed based on these
problems.

Dept. of ME, VCET puttur Page 3

A CASE STUDY OF JUST IN TIME (JIT) IN TOYOTA 2016-17

Focus of JIT?

Mainly JIT focuses to eliminate the waste or the non-value added.

Thus there are several types of wastes categorized. JIT usually
identifies seven prominent types of waste to be eliminated:

Waste from Overproduction

Transportation Waste
Processing Waste
Waste from Product Defects
Waste of waiting/idle time
Inventory Waste

Dept. of ME, VCET puttur Page 4