Designing and phasing in just-in-time production systems

Japanese just-in-time (JIT) production systems have been described extensively in books, professional magazines, and academic journals. These systems are so different from the production systems currently in use in North America and Europe that it appears that the only way to implement JIT is to dismantle the current production system on one day and begin a full JIT system the next day. In this paper we describe a three-step process for gradually phasing in JIT. The process begins with a two-bin inventory system, moves to a pull system with kanban, and then to a continuous flow production system. An illustrative example is presented.