JIT/Lean Defined

When people who should know are asked to define JIT, the typical response is that JIT “is getting your materials deliv­ered just when you need them.” Probing a little deeper may elicit a response that suggests JIT manufacturers let their sup­pliers keep their materials inventory until the manufactur­ers need it. The first statement demonstrates

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Rationale for JIT/Lean

Mass production manufacturers set their production sched­ules based on a forecast of future needs, which, in turn, is based on historical data and trend analysis (see Figure 21.2). The great weakness of this system is that no one can predict the future with sufficient certainty, even with a complete and perfect understanding of the

Development of JIT/Lean

We have identified Ohno as the creator of the just-in-time/ Lean system, and it is true that he was responsible for devel­oping the system as it is now known. However, other names should be remembered, at least to the extent to which they contributed by inspiration. The first is Henry Ford, creator of mass

Relationship of JIT/Lean to Total Quality and World-Class Manufacturing

The traditional production line pushes product from the front of the line to the final output, and even to the custom­ers, whereas kanban is the controlling agent in a pull system. The two are incompatible. Similarly, implementing JIT/Lean in the absence of a comprehensive total quality system that includes the entire organization can be

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Benefits of JIT/Lean

A discussion of the benefits of JIT/Lean must include four very important topics: inventory and work-in-process, cycle time, continual improvement, and elimination of waste. The discussion could be expanded to include such topics as re­duced time-to-market, improved employee work life, flex­ibility, and employee ownership. All of these are definite benefits of JIT/Lean, but this

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Requirements of JIT/Lean

For a factory to operate as a just-in-time/Lean production facility, a number of steps must be taken. It is very important that JIT/Lean implementation be a part of a larger total qual­ity program; otherwise, many interdepartmental roadblocks will crop up as time passes. Like total quality, JIT/Lean re­quires an unwavering commitment from the top

Automation and JIT/Lean

Automation has not been discussed a great deal in this book. We have stuck to the fundamentals. One should not read into this, however, that JIT/Lean and automation are mutually exclusive. Rather, it is more meaningful to discuss the processes that use humans and manual machines than the same processes powered by robots. If

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Key Six Sigma Concepts

At its core, Six Sigma revolves around the following key concepts: Critical to quality (CTQ): Attributes most crucial for the customer Defect: Failing to deliver what the customer wants Process capability: What one’s process can deliver Variation: What the customer sees and feels Stable operations: Ensuring consistent, predictable processes to improve what the cus­tomer

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The Six Sigma Quality Level

According to Harry and Schroeder,1 Six Sigma quality fundamentally means a breakthrough strategy that can be interpreted as “a disciplined method of using extremely rigorous data gathering and statistical analysis to identify the sources of errors and ways of eliminating them.” Sigma is a letter in the Greek alphabet used by statisticians to measure

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Six Sigma versus Three Sigma

In contrast to Six Sigma quality, the Three Sigma quality standard of 99.73 per cent translates to 2,700 parts per million (PPM) failures, even if we assume zero drift. For processes with a series of steps, the overall yield is the product of the yields of the different steps. For example, if we had

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Shifts and Role of Six Sigma

Six Sigma promotes the idea that the distribution of output for a stable, normally distributed process (voice of the process) should be designed to take up no more than half of the tolerance allowed by the specification limits (voice of the customer). Although processes may be designed to be at their best, it is

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Defects Per Million Opportunities (DPMO)

To achieve Six Sigma quality, a process must produce no more that 3.4 defects per million opportunities. An opportunity is defined as a chance for non-conformance or not meet­ing the required specifications. This means one needs to be nearly flawless in executing key processes. The process and culture is conditioned for zero defects rather

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Six Sigma Strategy

Six Sigma is probably one of the best methodologies to pervade the world of improvements. Its measurement orientation, rigorous training scheme, process centricity and stakeholder involve­ment differentiate it from other quality methodologies. The tools in Six Sigma are not new, but its direct linkages to business objectives and priorities make it a powerful strategy

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Implementing Six Sigma

Six Sigma is a rigorous, focused and highly effective implementation of proven quality prin­ciples and techniques. A company’s performance is measured by the sigma level of their business processes. Traditionally, companies accepted Three or Four Sigma performance levels as the norm, despite the fact that these processes created between 6,200 and 67,000 problems per

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Define, Measure, Analyse, Improve and Control (DMAIC)

DMAIC can be described as follows: D Define the goals of the improvement activity. At the top level, the goals will be the strategic objectives of the organization such as a higher ROI or market share. At the operations level, a goal might be to increase the throughput of the production department. At the

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Define, Measure, Analyse, Design and Verify (DMADV)

There are certain situations where the project team members may feel that a process needs to be replaced by a new process rather than simply improving the existing process. The demands of the customers with regard to quality cannot be satisfied by the existing process. At times, an organization may decide to launch a

Six Sigma Training Programmes

Six Sigma involves changing major business value streams that cut across organizational barriers. It is the means by which the organization’s strategic goals are to be achieved. Six Sigma must be implemented from the top-down. This needs the efforts of the top leaders in the organization particularly the CEO who is responsible for the

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Applications of the Seven Quality Control Tools in Six Sigma

Six Sigma created a renewed focus on process improvement. The seven QC tools are among the many tools that comprise the Six Sigma tool box. They have been used widely to support quality improvement problem-solving efforts. Table 8.12 shows the application of the seven QC tools in Six Sigma. Source: Poornima M. Charantimath (2017),

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The Seven New Management and Planning Tools

In decision making, data needed for problem solving are not available always. Problem solv­ing in the sphere of management calls for collaboration among people from different depart­ments. Hard data are usually scarce and available data are likely to be highly subjective. In such cases, it is necessary to go beyond an analytical approach and

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Concepts of Kaizen

The essence of most “uniquely Japanese” management practices—productivity improve­ment, TQC activities, QC (Quality Control) circles, or labour relations—can be reduced to one word, Kaizen. Using the term Kaizen in place of such words as productivity, TQC, ZD (zero defects) Kanban, and the suggestion system paints a far clearer picture of what has been happening

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