The world that we live in today is a "RIGHT NOW" world. None of us want to wait for anything. We want our fast-food orders served in 90 seconds or less. We want to be able to get in touch with someone RIGHT NOW and not have to wait and look for a payphone. And retirement? Forget about it, we"d rather spend what's left of our 401(k) (thank you, NASDAQ bubble) on a new Escalade or Hummer. With society's current obsession with the here and now, it's almost hard to believe that not too long ago; manufacturers were very unwilling to change their productions systems from the older method of "make as much as you can and put it in storage until it's needed" to the newer, more efficient method of Just-In-Time (JIT).
The main principle of JIT is to eliminate sources of manufacturing waste by getting the right quantity of raw material and producing the right quantities of product in the right place at the right time (1). JIT is a production system where the movements of goods during production and delivery is so well timed that at each step in the process, the next batch arrives for processing just as the last one is being completed (1). Even though the Toyota Motor Corporation is given most of the credit when it comes to the creation and refinement of the JIT method during the 1970's, elements of the JIT system were apparent as far back as the 1930's in Henry Ford's assembly line (2). The aim of the Japanese was to increase product reliability and quality. So instead of funneling large amounts of money into just research and development, the Japanese decided to focus their attention on the production process (2). Through the implementation of JIT, Tai-ichi Ohno; who many regard as the father of JIT, helped turn Toyota Motor Corporation into one of the industry leaders in quality, reliability and delivery time (2). .
IMPLEMENTING JIT .
For the under informed, JIT seems like a quick-fix to inventory and production problems.
