JIT Analysis Who Was Responsible

JIT Analysis

Who was responsible for the development of JIT principles? (Brief answer)

Just-in-Time (JIT) principals were first implemented at automobile manufacturer Toyota in Japan as a result of "the consumer's dual needs for product variety and a quick response" (Blackburn 25). In other words, Toyota's customers not only wanted varied and quality products, but also they wanted to receive those products in a short time frame. For this reason, strategies in time compression, or lowering the amount of time needed to accomplish a task, were necessary. The timesaving method first came to America in the 1980s when frustrated factory owners found themselves able to meet customer's increasing demands, being left with sizeable inventories. Concentrating on JIT principals that would lead to a reduction of that inventory, the United States quickly adopted the strategy.

Explain the "scale vs. scope quandary."

The scale vs. scope quandary deals with the relationship between marketing and manufacturing in a company. While marketers want to offer a variety of goods in all shapes and sizes to satisfy a great deal of consumers, manufacturers want to manufacture the same object over and over again in the exact same way. Thus, marketing wants scope -- or a large variety of products, while manufacturing wants scale, a large number of products. Unless the employees manage to intervene in this problem, a number of frustrating consequences could occur, including large inventories and a lack of victory coherency. Thus, the scale vs. scope quandary suggests that two aspects of the manufacturing industry do not always work seamlessly together?

3. What are the two main steps in compressing time? Briefly explain each.

The first step in JIT is to locate waste and cut it out of the manufacturing process. According to Blackburn, waste is "anything that does not add value to the product or service" (36). In order to satisfy the customer's needs, it is important to produce a product with value, but it is not important to include features that do not add value to said product. This constitutes waste, and costs time and money. Because many manufacturers are not aware of the exact nature of their productions, finding waste in their operations may require them to delve deep into the manufacturing process. Some waste-causing elements that they may find include delays such as changeovers. Eliminating delays is an important part of eliminating waste, and with a faster production line free of waste, companies will be able to produce the same value-based product faster than ever.

The second step of time compression is to reduce set up time. Since set up time is a period of manufacturing where nothing is being produced, it is already weighing on the company's time management. Lowering set up times can be done relatively easily through scientific methods, even without the help of complex machinery, according to Asian expert Shingo. By observing and reacting to the set up routine, one can quickly come up with a way to reduce the time needed to set up machines.