Multi-process handling means one worker is responsible for several processes in a cell.
By- Sanjay Kumar Jha (Roll No.510916614) Page 35
Some points that should be aware:
· Clearly assign jobs to machines and workers.
· Make a good use of U-shaped cell manufacturing.
· Multi-skilled workers
· Operation should be able to perform multi-machine handling and multi process handling.
Multi-machine handling - a worker should handle several machines at once, this is also called "horizontal handling".
Multi-process handling - a worker should handle several different processes at once, this is also called "vertical handling" and this is the basis for JIT production.
· Uses casters extensively as author written, "Floor bolts are our enemies!
Machines must be movable."
Elements of Just in Time
According to Cheng, the basic elements of JIT manufacturing are:
· People Involvement
· Plants
· System
By- Sanjay Kumar Jha (Roll No.510916614) Page 36
People Involvement
Maintaining a good support and agreement from people involved in production. This is not only reduce the time and effort in implementation of JIT, but also minimize the chance of creating implementation problem. The attempt to maximize people‟s involvement may carry through the introduction of quality circle and total involvement concept.
Manufacturers can gain support from 4 sources.
1. Stockholders and owners of the company - should maintain a good long-term relationship among them.
2. Labor organization - all labors should be well-informed about the goals of JIT, this is crucial in gaining support from the them.
3. Management support - support from all level of management. The ideas of continuous improvement should spread all over the factory, managers and all shop-floor labor.
4. Government support - government can show their support by extending tax and other financial help. This can enhance the motivation, and also help in financing the implementation of JIT.
By- Sanjay Kumar Jha (Roll No.510916614) Page 37
Plants
Certain requirements are needed to implement JIT, there are:
1. Plant layout - the plant layout is mainly focus on maximizing working flexibility. It requires the use of "multi-function workers".
2. Demand pull production - it means to produce when the order is received.
This can manage the quantity and time more appropriately.
3. Kanban - a Japanese term for card or tag. Special inventory and process information are written on the card. This helps tying and linking the process more efficiently.
4. Self-inspection - it is carried out by the workers at catch mistakes immediately.
5. Continuous improvement - this concept should be adopted by every members in the organization in order to carry out JIT. This is the most important concept of JIT. This can allow an organization to improve its productivity, service, operation and even customer satisfaction in an on-going basis.
By- Sanjay Kumar Jha (Roll No.510916614) Page 38
System
This refers to the technology and process that combines the different processes and activities together. Two major types are MRP (Material Requirement Planning) and MRP II (Manufacturing Resource Planning).
MRP is a computer-based, bottom-up manufacturing approach. This involves two plans, production plan and master production schedule.
Production plan involves the management and planning of resources through the available capacity. Master production schedule involves what products to be produced in what time.
MRP II is mainly involved the management or planning of financial resources in order to carry out the operation.
Goal of Just in Time
According to Cheng in Just-In-Time Manufacturing – An Introduction, he explains the objectives of JIT. There are three main objectives:
1. Increasing the organization‟s ability to compete with others and remain competitive over the long run. The competitiveness of the firms is increased by the use of JIT manufacturing process as they can develop a more optimal
process for their firms.
2. Increasing efficiency within the production process. Efficiency is obtained through the increase of productivity and decrease of cost.
3. Reducing wasted materials, time and effort. It can help to reduce the costs.
By- Sanjay Kumar Jha (Roll No.510916614) Page 39
Other short-term and long-term objectives are:-
1. Identify and response to consumers needs. Customers‟ needs and wants seem to be the major focus for business now, this objective will help the firm on what is demanded from customers, and what is required of production.
2. Optimal quality/cost relationship. The organization should focus on zero-defect production process. Although it seems to be unrealistic, in the long run, it will eliminate a huge amount of resources and effort in inspecting, reworking and the production of defected goods.
3. Reduce unwanted wastes. Wastes that do not add value to the products
itself should be eliminated.
4. Develop a reliable relationship between the suppliers. A good and long-term relationship between organization and its suppliers helps to manage a more efficient process in inventory management, material management and delivery system. It will also assure that the supply is stable and available
when needed.
5. Plant design for maximizing efficiency. The design of plant is essential in terms of manufacturing efficiency and utility of resources.
6. Adopt the work ethnic of Japanese workers for continuous improvement.
By- Sanjay Kumar Jha (Roll No.510916614) Page 40
Commit a long-term continuous improvement throughout the organization. It will help the organization to remain competitive in the long run.
Other Similar Ideas
1. Reduction of Inventory. JIT reduces inventory at all level of the organization.
2. Reduction of Lead Time. Lead time such as setup time and move time and waiting time is reduced.
3. Quality Control. JIT improves the quality control by increasing its
efficiency of managing shop floor production and increasing its commitment to its suppliers.
4. Improvement for Performance. In JIT manufacturing, the organization can obtain a greater impact/control over its suppliers. With fewer suppliers, organizations have larger control because the amount purchased is usually large. And, organizations can obtain a tighter requirement on products from their suppliers.
5. Total Preventive Maintenance. JIT provides preventive maintenance to lessen the risk of machine breakdowns.
6. Continuous Improvement. JIT is a never-ending method in operation management.
By- Sanjay Kumar Jha (Roll No.510916614) Page 41
7. Strategic Gain. JIT helps organization to remain competitive in the market place.
8. Reduction of Wastes. JIT helps significantly in reducing wastes.
JIT can help organization remains competitive by offering consumers higher quality of products than their competitors, it is very important in the survival in the market place.
These major objectives are suitable for all organizations. But each organization is unique in some way, adjustments of JIT objectives for each form should be made in order to complement the overall production process.
Limitation of Just in Time
Regardless of the great benefits of JIT, it has its limitations, the following are the major limitations.
· Culture Differences The organizational cultures vary from firm to firm.
There are some cultures that tie to JIT success but it is difficult for an organization to change its cultures within a short time.
· Traditional Approach The traditional approach in manufacturing is to store up a large amount of inventory in the means of backing up during bad time.
Those companies rely on safety stocks may have a problem with the use of JIT.
· Difference in implementation of JIT Because JIT was originally established
By- Sanjay Kumar Jha (Roll No.510916614) Page 42
in Japanese, it is somehow different for implementing in western countries.
The benefits may vary.
· Loss of individual autonomy. This is mainly due to the shorter cycle times which adds pressures and stress on the workers.
· Loss of team autonomy. This is the result of decreasing buffer inventories which lead to a lower flexibility of the workers to solve problem
individually.
· Loss of method autonomy. It means the workers must act some way when problems occur, this does not allow them to have their own method to solve a problem.
· JIT success is varied from industry to industry. Some industries are benefit more from JIT while others do not.
· Resistance to change JIT involves a change throughout the whole organization, but human nature resists to changes. The most common resistances are emotional resistance and rational resistance. Emotional
resistance are those psychological feeling which hinder performance such as anxiety. Rational resistance is the deficient of the needed information for the workers to perform the job well.
By- Sanjay Kumar Jha (Roll No.510916614) Page 43
Some other limitations:-
· Relationship between management and employees is important .A mutual trust must be built between management and employees in order to have effective decision making.
· Employee commitment Employees must commit to JIT, to enhance the quality as their ultimate goal, and to see JIT as a way to compete rather than method used by managers to increase their workload.
· Production level JIT works best for medium to high range of production volume.
· Employee skill JIT requires workers to be multi-skilled and flexible to change.
· Compensation should be set on time-based wages. This allows the workers to concentrate on building what the customers wants.
By- Sanjay Kumar Jha (Roll No.510916614) Page 44
Unit – 5 JIT - Philosophy or Technique
Just In Time is a philosophy and not the technique for elimination of wastes.
The JIT strategy is to have "the right product at the right place at the right time."
The Just-in-time philosophy that emerged, is a management logic based on simplicity and continuous improvement. It may be applied to any process where it will aim to make improvements through elimination of excess, waste and unevenness.
The Just-in-Time concept comprises methods and techniques that aim to increase the potential for short times to delivery.
Production system in which both the movement of goods during production and deliveries from suppliers are carefully timed so that at each step of the process the next (usually small) batch arrives for processing just as the proceeding batch is completed
The "Just in time" (JIT.) inventory concept, also called Kanban, asserts that just enough inventories, arriving just in time to replace that which was just used, is all the inventory that is necessary at any given time. Excessive inventory unnecessarily ties up money, adds warehousing costs, increases risk of damage and risks obsolescence, and most of all, can possibly obscure opportunities for operational improvements.
By- Sanjay Kumar Jha (Roll No.510916614) Page 45
Storing inventory is still the basics of warehousing, but in today‟s business it constitutes only part of the total. A modern thought on warehousing is that large inventories are really not as necessary as once believed.
To some companies storing large quantities of inventory is detrimental to business because it ties up capital and can also disguise poor management practices. The JIT philosophy emphasizes flow flexibility and developing supply chains to reduce all excess and waste
Implementation Of JIT
Although the just-in-time (JIT) concept is very young, perhaps 10 to 15 years old in this country, it is so widespread in American manufacturing and service. Perhaps this is because the idea is so simple and so appealing. In short, the JIT strategy is to have "the right product at the right place at the right time." It implies that in manufacturing or service, each stages of the process produces exactly the amount that is required for the next step in the process. This notion holds true for all steps within the system.
Suppose, for example, that all products pass through a drilling operation and then a milling operation. With JIT, the drill produces only what the mill will need next. It also holds for the last step that is, the system produces only what the customer desires.
Implementation of a JIT system typically includes emphasis on the following aspects of the production process:
By- Sanjay Kumar Jha (Roll No.510916614) Page 46
Production Smoothing Capacity Buffers Set-up Reduction
Cross Training and Plant Layout Total Quality Management
Most of the companies today seek this method of implementation:
Form a top-level team:
This team‟s responsibilities include deciding upon an organizational structure and developing a plan to implement JIT within the company. This plan should include the company‟s goals concerning production, as well as how to establish this plan among all employees (i.e. motivation & discipline) This plan then be used to establish the overall philosophy of the company concerning JIT
To train the top management in the basic concepts of JIT:
This is the first step of the implementation process. It is very important to educate and train the top-level management, as they are the ones who frame policies and get things moving. This being a new idea, getting this into practice will need full support & cooperation from these people.
By- Sanjay Kumar Jha (Roll No.510916614) Page 47
To implement this system to every aspect of the company from supplier to distributors:
First of all each department should establish its goals and a specific problem to attack. Then a team should be chosen by each department and establish team leaders. The teams should focus on the reduction of costs and the elimination of wastes. Data must then be collected on the team‟s problems.
This data should be plotted in order to find excess waste or costs. Once this is done, measurement should be plotted in order to find excess waste or costs. Once this is done, measurement should be made. Manipulation of this data should show at least some apparent problems in the current system.
Further analysis should help in the implementation of JIT by showing problem areas. In addition, the data the data could be used to show the effects of implementing JIT into the company.
Guidelines for Successful JIT Implementation
Make the factory loadings uniform, linear, and stable. Fluctuations in manufacturing loadings will result in bottlenecks. Reduce, if not eliminate, conversion and set-up times. Reduce lot sizes. This will smoothen out the flow of inventories from one station to another, although this may necessitate more frequent deliveries or transfers. Reduce lead times by moving work stations closer together and streamlining the production floor lay-out, applying cellular manufacturing concepts, using technology to automate processes and improve coordination. Reduce equipment downtimes through good preventive maintenance. Cross-train personnel to
By- Sanjay Kumar Jha (Roll No.510916614) Page 48
achieve a very flexible work force require stringent supplier quality assurance since an operation under JIT can not afford to incur errors due to defects. Use a control system to convey lots between workstations efficiently; the use of a kanban system is an example of this
Benefits of JIT
Perhaps, the most significant benefit of JIT is to improve the responsiveness of the firms to the market place thereby affording it an overwhelming advantage in competition. Specific benefits will depend upon size of the market, technology of processes etc. Therefore, they vary from organizations to organization.
One of the benefits of JIT is that with raw materials and WIP being processed in smaller batches, errors can be easily identified and corrected quickly, during each stage of the production process. This in turn has the
‘knock-on’ effects of reducing non-value added costs
Conceptually, the JIT benefits could be grouped into the following categories;
Product Cost: This is greatly reduced of manufacturing cycle time, reduction of scraps, inventories, space requirement, and material handling and eliminations of non-value adding operations.
Quality: It has greatly improved due to fast detection and correction of defects, use of automatic stop devices, higher quality of purchased parts,
By- Sanjay Kumar Jha (Roll No.510916614) Page 49
worker centered quality control and statistical process control. Total preventive maintenance an d lower inventory levels also help in quality improvements.
Design: Due to fast response to engineering change, alternative designs can be quickly brought on the shop floor.
Productivity: Order magnitude productivity improvements are obtained due to the use of flexible workforce, reduced rework, reduced inspection, reduced part delay and reduced throughout time. Workers acquire multiple skills and become highly productive.
JIT systems have a number of other important benefits also, which are attracting the attention of various companies. The main benefits are:
Reduced levels of in-process inventories, purchased goods, and finished goods.
Reduced space requirements.
Increased product quality and reduced scrap and rework.
Reduced manufacturing lead times.
Greater flexibility in changing the production mix.
Smoother production flow with fewer disruptions.
Worker participation in problem solving.
By- Sanjay Kumar Jha (Roll No.510916614) Page 50
Pressure to build good relationships with vendors.
Increased productivity levels and utilization of equipment
Reduction in the need for certain indirect labour.
Just In Time (JIT) Manufacturing
Just in Time manufacturing is a systems approach to developing and operating a manufacturing system. It is based on the total elimination of waste. JIT is not a new concept. It has been part and parcel of the Japanese manufacturing industry adopted approach for quite some time. It requires that equipment, resources and labor are made available only in the amount required and at the time required to do the job. It is based on producing only the necessary units in the necessary quantities at the necessary time by bringing production rates exactly in line with market demand. In short, JIT means making what the market wants, when it wants it. JIT has been found to be so effective that it increases productivity, work performance and product quality, while saving costs.