Just-in-Time Manufacturing

The goal of Just-in-Time (JIT) manufacturing is to strengthen a company's competitiveness in the market place through a series of dedicated, concerted and continuous efforts aimed at eliminating waste of all kinds within the company. JIT manufacturing works on the principle that the necessary products are only produced in the necessary quantities at the necessary times. While this JIT production principle sounds simple, to implement it in practice is by no means a simple task. The objective of this publication is to meet the educational needs of managers and engineers in companies contemplating a switch to JIT manufacturing. It introduces the reader to the history, philosophy and issues of JIT manufacturing. The thrust of the book concerns the three fundamental building blocks of JIT manufacturing, namely setting up a JIT production system, improving quality, and instilling total employee involvement. JIT implementation issues are covered and supported by industrial case studies. This book should be of interest to engineers and production management in industry, as well as quality professionals and senior undergraduate and graduate students in engineering and business studies.