Just In Time Inventory essays

Just In Time Inventory essays In today's manufacturing society, one of the most popular ideas that are circulating in the manufacturing industry is the idea of just-in-time manufacturing. There have been various journals, magazines, newspapers, and other published documents that illustrate the actual efforts of companies to develop and implement just-in-time processes. This document will define just-in-time manufacturing; the methods organizations take in implementing the just-in-time process, and the results of this implementation. With this in mind, just-in-time manufacturing is the idea that companies should have manufacturing and purchasing strategies that reduce the time between the beginning of the manufacturing process and shipment to the customer. However, the actual development and implementation of these strategies are of difficult tasks (APCI 1-6) One significant idea about just-in-time manufacturing is throughput time. This is the time between the start of the manufacturing process and the end, where the product is ready to be shipped. Five key elements are involved in throughput time. The first element is processing time, or the time actually spent working on the product. Next is inspection time and moving time. Moving time is simply the amount of time spent moving the product from one production department to another, as well as back and forth from storage areas. The last two elements of throughput time are waiting, or queue, time and storage time. Queue time is the amount of time a product is waiting at a production department before being worked on, while storage time is the amount of time raw materials, finished goods, and works-in-progress actually stay in storage. According to many experts philosophy, the first element, processing time, actually adds value to the product, while the last four key elements do not. Thi s means that value-added activities and non value-added activities exist within this system. JIT manufacturing attempt t...