INTRODUCTION:

JIT
and
lean
operations
are
used
interchangeably to refer to a highly
coordinated, repetitive manufacturing or
service system.

HEIJUNKAa
Japanese
word
meaning
WORKLOAD LEVELING, the workload must be
leveled; volume and variety must be
averaged to achieve a steady flow of work.
KAIZEN- continuous improvement of the
system.
There
is
always
room
for
improvement, so this effort must be ongoing.
JIDOKA- quality at the source. Each worker is
expected
to
perform
ongoing quality
assurance. OBJECTIVE: to avoid passing
defective products to following work stations,
and to make workers aware of quality.
POKA-YOKE- safeguards built into a process to
reduce the possibility of committing an error.
TEAM CONCEPT- use small teams of workers
for process improvement.

HISTORY:
Lean operations began as lean manufacturing
in the mid-1900s. It was developed by the
Japanese automobile manufacturer, TOYOTA.
The development in Japan was influenced by
the limited resources available at that time.
Not surprisingly, the Japanese were very
sensitive to waste and inefficiency.
Example
of
the
potential
of
lean
manufacturing was illustrated by the
successful adoption of lean methods in the
mid-1980s in a Fremont, California, auto JIT/LEAN OPERATIONS IS A PHILOSOPHY
plant. The plant was originally operated by
The philosophy is to pursue a system that
General Motors. However, general motors
functions well with minimal levels of
closed the plant. A few years later the plant
inventories, minimal waste, minimal space,
was reopened as a joint venture of Toyota
minimal transactions.
and general motors, called NUMMI (NEW
It must be a system that is not prone to
UNITED MOTOR MANUFACTURING, INC.) the
disruptions and is flexible in terms of the
result? By 1985, productivity and quality
product variety and range of volume that it
improved dramatically, exceeding all other
can handle.
General motor plants.
Widespread interest in lean manufacturing SUPPORTING GOALS
occurred after the book about automobile
DISRUPTIONS (ppt)
production, THE MACHINE THAT CHANGED
FLEXIBLE (ppt) long setup times and long
THE WORLD, published in 1991. As described
lead times negatively impact the flexibility of
in the book, Toyotas focus was on the
the system. Hence, reduction of setup and
elimination of waste from every aspect of the
lead times is very important in a
JIT
process
system.
As other North American Companies attempt
WASTE (ppt)
to adopt the lean approach, they began to
INVENTORY- an idle resource, taking up
realize that in order to be successful, they
space and adding cost to the system.
needed to make major organizational and

OVERPRODUCTION- involves excessive

cultural changes. They also recognized that
use of manufacturing resources
mass production, which emphasizes the

WAITING TIME- requires space, adds no

efficiency of individual operations and leads
value
to unbalanced systems and large inventories;

UNNECESSARY
TRANSPORTINGwas outmoded.
increases handling, increases WIP
inventory
THE TOYOTA APPROACH
PROCESSING
WASTEmakes
MUDA- Japanese word meaning uselessness,
unnecessary
production
steps,
scrap
waste, and inefficiency.
INEFFICIENT WORK METHODS- reduce
KANBAN- a manual system that signals the
productivity, increase scrap, increase
need for parts or materials. This applies both
WIP inventory
to delivery to the factory and delivery to each

PRODUCT DEFECTS- require rework

workstation. The result is the delivery of a
costs and possible lost sales due to
steady stream of containers of parts
customer dissatisfaction
throughout the workday.
PULL SYSTEM- replacing material or parts
based on demand. Produce only what is
needed.