A Review of the Implementation of JIT Algorithms and Models in Production Systems

Intense competition in today’s economy, the shrinking life cycles of products, and the heightening expectations of customers have forced business enterprises to focus their attention on correctly arranging and controlling their production and supply chain systems. Thus, manufacturing firms/industries adopt JIT techniques to enjoy competitive advantage. In this paper, a literature review is presented to show the important applications of JIT Algorithms and Models in Production Systems. The purpose of this step is to review the results obtained from the implementation and to provide the practical recommendations for further improvement. This will help reveal practical issues encountered in the implementation. All these issues should become main concerns if the manufacturing Plant wants to get maximum benefits from the JIT implementation. This study bridged a research gap by identifying a framework for re-design of manufacturing systems into practical optimum Just-In-Time systems. The conventional JIT approach is mostly applicable to static production systems and the dynamic production systems require a more practical integrated JIT approach

The just-in-time system and its applicability in South Africa

This thesis discusses the philosophy and techniques of the Japanese Just-in-Time manufacturing system and its applicability in South Africa. The Japanese system consists of two types of procedures and techniques. They pertain to: 1) productivity; (2) quality. The aspect of the system dealing most directly with productivity is known as the just-in-time system. Just-in-Time addresses the material cost component of productivity. The diverse indirect effects are even more pronounced. Just-in-Time partially covers Japanese quality improvements but there are a host of other Japanese quality improvement concepts and procedures. Total quality control describes the set of Japanese quality improvement procedures which in turn encompasses some of the Just-in-Time techniques and improves productivity through the avoidance of waste. The two entities of the Japanese manufacturing system overlap

The application of the just-in-time production philosophy to the pharmaceutical industry in South Africa

Bibliography: pages 143-144.This thesis researches the "Just-in-Time" (JIT) in the production philosophy and its application pharmaceutical industry in South Africa. While JIT is widely accepted in Japan and is gaining some acceptance in the USA, it is virtually unknown in South Africa. Studies of the JIT philosophy in the world at large have been largely confined to the use of JIT in repetitive mass production environments, such as is found in the motor industry. No prior studies have been conducted on the application of the JIT philosophy to the pharmaceutical industry in South Africa. The objectives of the thesis are: •To properly define JIT and establish the extent and nature of its components, having researched existing JIT systems in use throughout the world. •To investigate the application of JIT in South Africa with particular reference to the pharmaceutical manufacturing industry. •To determine to what extent JIT and Manufacturing Resource Planning (MRP II) can complement each other in improving productivity in the South African pharmaceutical industry. The techniques used in carrying out the thesis work included literature searches, attending seminars and conducting surveys, whilst the author participated in a JIT pilot project in the pharmaceutical industry

Intelligent systems in manufacturing: current developments and future prospects

Global competition and rapidly changing customer requirements are demanding increasing changes in manufacturing environments. Enterprises are required to constantly redesign their products and continuously reconfigure their manufacturing systems. Traditional approaches to manufacturing systems do not fully satisfy this new situation. Many authors have proposed that artificial intelligence will bring the flexibility and efficiency needed by manufacturing systems. This paper is a review of artificial intelligence techniques used in manufacturing systems. The paper first defines the components of a simplified intelligent manufacturing systems (IMS), the different Artificial Intelligence (AI) techniques to be considered and then shows how these AI techniques are used for the components of IMS

Development of a model for performance measurement in just-in-time enabled manufacturing environments.

In this era of globalisation and fierce competition amongst businesses, there is a need to improve advanced operations management philosophies such as just-in-time (JIT) manufacturing to enhance business performance. Literature review shows that there is no mechanism so far to identify key JIT drivers relevant to a given organisation and its production processes, and their impact on enterprise performance. The research carried out here therefore involved the development of a generic performance measurement model to identify and capture the influence of JIT practices on enterprise performance. A conceptual performance measurement model, which was designed based on comprehensive literature review and informal interviews/discussions with both academic researchers and industry practitioners describes the link between JIT drivers (Xi) and measurable performance (Y). This mathematically determined model is aimed at assisting managers in the systematic identification of the influence of key JIT drivers on enterprise performance using a multidimensional tool such as the extended balanced scorecard. The case study approach was selected as the most suitable methodology for testing and validating the conceptual model in JIT enabled production plant and was applied to the production process of Denso Manufacturing (UK) Ltd., a global automotive component manufacturer. A novel eight-step implementation procedure was designed to collect data, which were analysed and validated by design of experiments, linear mathematical modelling, computer based dynamic simulation and analytic hierarchy process tool. The performance measurement model was then successfully applied to a non-automotive component production plant (Risane Ltd.). In conclusion, the performance measurement model can now be suitably applied to JIT enabled manufacturing environments using relevant organisation specific JIT drivers and key performance indicators to optimise system performance. The contribution to knowledge is an innovative, user friendly, robust and multidimensional performance measurement model enabling industry practitioners to optimise JIT processes with substantial performance enhancement. The model could also be applied by future researchers to other operations management philosophies and industries, and at a higher level could be developed into a self-optimising software package, which will enable rapid determination of the key control parameters needed to optimise process performance just in time

Analysis and reduction of waste in the work process using manufacturing kaizen tool : a case study

M.Tech. (Operations Management)The research is about the application of lean manufacturing tool known as manufacturing kaizen in order to improve a work process at . The company is based in Kempton Park, South Africa, used as a case study to evaluate the benefit of manufacturing kaizen at a specific industrial concern. The research demonstrated how manufacturing kaizen when used appropriately can help APSAP PTY LTD to eliminate waste, have better inventory control, short process cycle times, and better overall financial and operational procedures. The goal was to reduce the identified waste using manufacturing kaizen tool. Waste reduction eventually reduced the cycle time of the work process. The primary objective of the thesis was to study and analyze the cylinder preparation process in APSAP PTY LTD. The process activities were captured, then analyzed using the process map. The secondary objective was to identify waste in the process. Major businesses in South Africa have been trying to adopt new business initiatives in order to stay competitive. One way to increase this is to apply proper manufacturing strategy and use of lean manufacturing or continuous improvement tools to achieve business objective which is to stay competitive and to increase profit. The research addresses the application of a lean manufacturing tool called manufacturing kaizen. Manufacturing kaizen refers to a technique used for improving a work process by the eliminating waste within that process in the organization. It is one of the improvement tools that focus on cost reduction by eliminating non-value added activities. Kaizen achieves the elimination of waste by empowering people with tools and a process to uncover improvement opportunities and make change. Participants are key aspect in implementing the manufacturing kaizen event, since they are the people directly involved. Identifying the key people that will be used in the manufacturing kaizen event is very crucial for the success of the event. Any changes or improvements of the process will have direct impact to the people. It is important that people who are directly affected by change become part of the process and feel empowered. Kaizen understands waste to be any activity that is not value adding from the perspective of the customer. The research unpacks manufacturing Kaizen and looks into its qualitative nature and its application within a working environment and how it influence productivity. It also investigates how this tool can be applied in a process or chemical industry and the benefits it can provide to an organization. The initial step in the approach was to outline data collected and examining techniques used to collect the data. The researcher carried out direct observation as he was physically present, and personally monitored what was taking place. The results show that labor productivity can be improved over time after the introduction of manufacturing kaizen. It concludes that with the introduction of manufacturing kaizen, transformation at workplace can be established leading to productivity improvement within an organization. The research has shown that with the proper use of manufacturing kaizen , waste reduction can be achieved

Innovative Logistics Management under Uncertainty using Markov Model

This paper proposes an innovative uncertainty management using a stochastic model to formulate logistics network starting from order processing, purchasing, inventory management, transportation, and reverse logistics activities. As this activity chain fits well with Markov process, we exploit the very principle to represent not only the transition among various activities, but also the inherent uncertainty that has plagued logistics activities across the board. The logistics network model is thus designed to support logistics management by retrieving and analyzing logistics performance in a timely and cost effective manner. The application of information technology entails this network to become a Markovian information model that is stochastically predictable and flexibly manageable. A case study is presented to highlight the significance of the model. Keywords: Logistics network; Markov process; Risk management; Uncertainty management