Just In Time is a Lean manufacturing principle that involves delivering the right items in the right amounts at the right time. Its primary aim is to reduce the amount of stock or inventory held within a company’s Value Stream, which in the process helps you to move from a “push” to a “pull” system.
Applying a Just In Time methodology to your supply chain is no mean feat, which is why our visual management experts are here to help you achieve it.
As the name suggests, Just In Time (JIT) is very much about timing. When the system is firmly in place, your raw materials will arrive when production is about to begin. By scheduling deliveries so that they arrive no sooner or later than this, your business will minimise the volume of inventory that requires storage space, potentially reducing it to zero.
JIT benefits all parties and makes the end-to-end journey much smoother. By manufacturing items as and when required, your business can focus on products that are in high demand as opposed to overproducing and inadvertently creating dead stock. As a result, your business is only producing what it needs whilst preventing numerous forms of waste (always bear in mind the eight types of waste, which can be remembered as TIM WOODS).
In addition, there are multiple other advantages to a JIT system, such as:
JIT is also linked to a higher quality of product due to there being less strain on your manufacturing processes. When products are produced only when required, the risk of bottlenecks, constraints and errors is significantly reduced.
On top of this, damage that can sometimes occur due to inventory being stored away for weeks or months on end is also avoided, resulting in an exceptional product being sent to your customers straight off the production line.
Needless to say, switching from one manufacturing system to another requires a lot of forethought and planning. Below are a few factors to consider beforehand, which we can help you to analyse and improve:
Whilst JIT is designed to make your business more efficient, responsive and agile, we appreciate that you also want to know how it could benefit you financially. So, in terms of expenditure, the average business can save around 20% on the cost of inventory carrying if it switches to Just In Time production cycles.
With inventory, storage and unnecessary internal logistics often costing manufacturing businesses very large sums each year, we’re here to help you remove these costs from the equation.
We provide Lean consultancy and bespoke visual management products designed to minimise waste across every manufacturing process, as well as in-depth training through our Operational Excellence Academy. For more information about how we can help and to book a consultation, get in touch with our team on +44 (0)1482 296451 or fill in our contact form.
Get in touch and speak with a Visual Management Specialist to answer any questions you may have on our products, consultancy or business.
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