 JUST – IN – TIME (JIT) MANUFACTURING

Definition – A philosophy that focused attention on eliminating waste by purchasing or manufacturing just enough of the
right items Just – In – Time. Zero inventories are a synonym to Just – In – Time.

Just – In – Time philosophy is based on the following two principles:

 Production and supply of required number of parts when needed.
 JI DOKA (self – actualization), which means utilizing the full capacity of the workforce.

Objectives of Just – In – Time

 Development of optimal process and be competitive
 Streamlining of operations and eliminating unwanted processes
 Continuous improvement
 Reducing the levels of wasted materials, time and effort
 Increasing efficiency of production process
JIT can be practiced by defining and implementing several concepts such as:
 Kaizen
 Team work
 Multi – function work – force
 Optimizing plant layout
 Eliminating wastages
 Reduced set up time
 Kanban
 Material Requirement Planning (MRP)
 Manufacturing Resources Planning (MRP), etc.
 Involvement of people
 Plant optimization
Benefits of JIT
 Reduction of wastes
 Reduction of Work – In – Progress (WIP)
 Establishing proper customer – supplier relationship
 Reduction in lead – time
 Less – inventory of raw materials
 Improvement in flexibility
 Lower cost and high productivity
 Enhanced customer satisfaction due to lower price owing to elimination of waves
 Improved employee morale owing to a prefect system without waiting
 Improved satisfaction of shareholders due to high profit
 Reduced space requirements on account of total elimination of WIP and buffer stock of materials, sub – assemblies
and products.
 Improved productivity and improve quality
Not following JIT Increases Cost
-The reason for JIT is to reduce inventory costs.
Why Practice JIT?
-The reason for practicing JIT above all is for more prosperity of the company and more profits for the company.
Requirements of JIT
The most fundamental requirement for JIT manufacturing are all those that will lead to reduction of lead time
before starting a particular job. Some of them are:
 Practicing TQM
 Documented system
 Trustworthy suppliers who also practice TQM
 Efficient customer handling process to know the demand just in time
 People are educated, trained and coached continuously
 Competitive people at all positions in the company
  Machinery, which are maintained periodically and updated continuously
 Proper operating environment for machinery and people
 Excellent system of support and infrastructure
 Proper layout of machinery and manufacturing
 Housekeeping, which reduces the confusion
 Identification of an item should be as fast as possible
 Employee should be sure about the quality of the material, and the process
 They should be able to know, when the machinery has to be taken out of service for maintenance
 They should be thorough with routine and preventive maintenance schedules of the machinery
 They should be thorough with the process
 They should be familiar with process parameters and how to inspect the materials, subassemblies and in-process
measurements.
 The employee should know the quality requirements of the product or service
 Support of good Information Technology infrastructure
 Reordering of materials should be automatic when the inventory level goes down. The software should be built to
automatically order parts, when the total quantity of products to be delivered is determined.
 The company needs to automate the delivery process
All these will help in reducing the bottlenecks in practicing JIT strategy. Above all, it requires the determination of the top
management to practice JIT, in the interest of the organization.