ABSTRACT
The Just-In-Time (JIT) system was introduced and promoted in the early 1950s by Mr Taiichi Ohno, former Executive Vice-President of Toyota Motor Corporation. The Japanese were in fact using many of the techniques already employed and developed in the Western world. JIT projects are being launched in most of the better known North American industrial corporations. JIT marks a substantial shift away from major traditional approaches to manufacturing management. Activities such as moving, storing, counting, sorting and scheduling, however, add cost to a product but no value. Cost without value is considered waste. Waste incurred in the production processes also includes over-production and defective units. Most manufacturing organisations operate in the traditional push environment. The systems set up for implementing JIT should be designed so that they immediately trigger some warning whenever a problem arises. JIT also stresses the need to improve human operations first before investing in automation.
