Just in TimeJoin now to read essay Just in Time1. IntroductionââJust-in-Timeââ (JIT) means different things to different people. Some believe it to be an approach to manufacturing production, control and purchasing; to others it is a methodology to achieve manufacturing excellence (Schonberger, 1986); some businesses even view JIT as a winning strategy in the highly competitive market place of the 1990s (Schniederjans, 1992). As an operational philosophy JIT has been developing extensively in the manufacturing sectors, from its early development in Toyota Motor Co., to todayâs wide spread employment.
However, the JIT philosophy is being increasingly and seriously questioned by some academics and practitioners. For example, the slow demand and simultaneous surge in inventories during the second quarter of 1994 was interpreted, by the Wall Street Journal as an end to the âwishful natureâ of the JIT theory of production management (Norris, 1994).Roy Shapiro, Professor of Operations Management Harvard Business School, states that âcompanies run into troubleâ when they stress âsqueezing out the last iota of inventoryâ above the more important goals of quality and process improvement (Bleakley, 1994). Shapiro also notes that even firms in Japan, where JIT practices were first heavily developed, increased their inventory levels as they learned more about the inefficiencies of small order/lot quantities (Bleakley, 1994).
In the first part of this study, definition of Just-in-Time, how it works and its benefits are examined. The second part of this study is focused on the constraints and discussions regarding the benefits and successes of just-in-time practices.
2.1 What is Just in Time (JIT)?According to Ventorline.com JIT is a management philosophy that strives to eliminate sources of manufacturing waste and cost by producing the right part in the right place at the right time. (World wide web)
2.2 How JIT worksFor JIT to work, two things must happen:(a) all parts, or orders must arrive when and where they are needed, in the exact quantitythat is needed.(b) all parts, or orders delivered, must be usable.Where these conditions are not achieved, JIT may easily become Just-too-Late.In achieving these requirements, purchasing has the following responsibilities:The emphasis should be on performance rather than design specification. Less restrictive specifications enable suppliers to be cost effective by being innovative with regards to the quality/function aspects of supplies. In JIT purchasing, value analysis is an integral part of the system and should include supplier liaison:
1. to ensure that they understand completely the necessity of maintaining a consistent lead timeand high level of quality,2. to investigate possible or potential suppliers within a reasonable proximity to the users locality, to help increase the certainty of delivery lead time and on time delivery,
3. to establish long-term relationships with a view to meeting the supplierâs expectations in respect of:(a) continuity of custom,(b) a fair price and profit margin,(c) procedures and price adjustments,(d) minimising order changes,(e) firm and reasonably stable specifications,(f) smoothly timed order release,(g) involvement in design specification,(h) prompt payment.2.3 The benefits of JITThe potential benefits of JIT to an organization and its purchasing function in particular, havebeen summarised by Schonberger and Ansari (1984) as:(A) Parts costs Lowscrap costs; low inventory carrying cost.(B) Quality Fast detection and correction of unsatisfactory quality and ultimate improved quality in purchased goods.(C) Design Fast response to engineering/ operational change requirements.(D) Administration efficiency Fewer suppliers, minimal expenditure and order release work, simplified communication and receiving activities.
JITC is expected to benefit from more complex, more complex and more expensive information systems, as well as more efficient decision maker management. This could lead to a decrease in the ability of customers to evaluate order and delivery systems.
JITC’s performance in a limited way will be affected by how a supplier deals with customers, which is something that will change with time. In practice, if suppliers are reluctant to use a certain order release method, as JITC has been doing, many suppliers will, and many customers will simply not care.
As JITC will be an integrated supplier in a number of other projects, the quality of the information that is delivered to customers will be a key factor in a supplier’s decision making. It will also be affected by the design of order release and order management, as well as the delivery system, which will provide more complex and effective information.
JITC should be able to provide a more complete service to its customers, and thus become more efficient, using the information it is offering to their customers. It should be aware that, if the supplier fails to produce information as requested by the customers, it will lose that ability to control a product or process and ultimately end up with a lower quality assurance, in a bad situation than before.
In order to ensure that JITC continues to operate as a supplier, customers will now be able to purchase the information they wish, by selecting from among three options in JITC’s online catalogue, or from the price options displayed on its website. It will need to ensure that suppliers do not create inaccurate or flawed information, such as in customer satisfaction surveys, as it has to in some cases.
JITC should provide this information to customers in order to ensure that it is available to consumers. It should not be responsible for the customers’ choice of their choice – not only the information in the catalogue, but the quality of the information that is delivered to them – in making those decisions.
To improve the quality of customer information online on the JITC platform, JITC should provide a service for users to ensure that they are always informed about a problem that does not result in a change. It needs to be able to tell that a problem is resolved by providing it with detailed information on the issue prior to being available to the users.
It would be good that many suppliers could take advantage of JITC’s improved quality and data management capabilities in order to improve customer satisfaction, so that it becomes progressively more efficient. As an indirect response to customer complaints, it also needs to be able to create a database of the issues that it has identified prior to becoming its supplier, and provide a simple process to do this. As a result that should enable suppliers to make more informed decisions by making up better data, based on information that is currently available, rather than having to rely on inaccurate or incomplete information from other suppliers. It should also be able to make better decisions by providing clear data and guidance from suppliers, instead of making decision making decisions that are made under orders that are not necessarily made by the supplier. It should be able to establish effective, accountable, transparent and reliable processes under which suppliers may be able to inform consumers without being held liable for incorrect or inaccurate information.
JITC should also be able to provide data on each of its customers’ satisfaction preferences online, as well as on their purchase performance, to the best of its ability, so that customers can make informed choices about their future with JITC.
It should also be able to create a data center (i.e.