JIT is a philosophy that was developed by the Toyota Motor Company in the mid-1970s. It has become the standard for many industries by focusing on simplicity, eliminating waste, taking a broad view of operations, visibility, and flexibility. Three key elements of this philosophy are JIT manufacturing, total quality management, and respect for people.

JIT manufacturing is a coordinated production system that enables the right quantities of parts to arrive when/where they are needed. Key elements of JIT manufacturing are the pull system and kanban production, small lot sizes and quick setups, uniform plant loading, flexible resources, and streamlined layout.

JIT views waste as anything that does not add value.

Traditional manufacturing systems use “push” production; Push systems anticipate future demand and produce in advance in order to have products in place when demand occurs. JIT uses “pull” production. Pull systems work backwards. The last workstation in the production line requests the precise amounts of materials required.

TQM creates an organizational culture that defines quality as seen by the customer. The concepts of continuous improvement and quality at the source are integral to allowing for continual growth and the goal of identifying the causes of quality problems.

JIT considers people to be the organization’s most important resource.

JIT is equally applicable in service organizations, particularly with the push toward time-based competition and the need to cut costs.

JIT success is dependent on interfunctional coordination and effort.

Waste:

Muda: a Japanese term for production activities that are wasteful and do not add value to the goods or services.

Mura: waste associated with the unevenness of the processes

Muri: waste resulting from overburden or