Major elements of just-in-time production

It is argued that the just-in-time (JIT) production system is in reality a management philosophy whose primary principles are the elimination of waste in the production process and the involvement of people in the management of the production process. It involves little new technology and its end result is increased quality and productivity. JIT achieves these results by looking at all aspects of the production process. These include ways of involving the workers in the management of production, the importance of quality, the improvement of work methods, set-up time reduction, the use of U-shaped line layouts to improve flexibility and personnel utilization, the involvement of suppliers in the production planning process, and the use of a pull production system. The author discusses the role of inventory, JIT techniques, work methods, plant layout, supplier roles, and the production of scheduling and management. JIT techniques are thought particularly useful in repetitive production environment, i.e., environments with high-volume production of a relatively few end products. In these environments, the pay-off from investments in JIT conversion are often dramatic