6. «Pull»
The kanban was then the final piece in the jigsaw. One of the major benefits of kanban is that it is very simple; it is also quite visible to all concerned and its logic is clear. It worked when all the issues preventing immediate response had been addressed and was the mechanism by which a build up of stock could be prevented. The yellow card attached to the container, or the floor space between two work benches, was the signal to initiate production of more of the item. If the assembly line stopped, then the subassemblies ceased being used and no more signals were generated. This contrasted markedly with the position in Western plants where an assembly line problem quickly led to a massive pile-up of inventory with items being mislaid and damaged.
Culture
Few of the Japanese ideas for change in manufacturing were totally new. Frederick Taylor and Henry Ford had promoted many of them at the start of the 20th century. Where the Japanese did have much to teach us was in the total commitment of everybody to these new ways of working. We began to hear of stock levels being reduced to the point that every slightest problem immediately caused a major hold up, and this was actually treated as a reason for celebration. «A problem is a pearl, «we heard, meaning that finding a problem in a process was a good thing. Why? Because the problem was there and we didn’t know about it, but now we do, so we can fix it.
The Move to Lean from JIT
As we understood more of JIT we learned that stock levels and lead times were not the only targets of the Toyota Production System and its followers in Japanese industry. We began to realise that our aim must be to eliminate waste in all its forms. «What is waste?» we asked ourselves, and turned to people like Mr Ohno and Mr Shingo and were told that «waste is anything which does not add value.»
We knew already of some wastes – for example, inspection adds no value. Why not just get the process right and then we needn’t carry out this activity? Similarly, why expedite our suppliers when, if we had chosen good partners and had a true partnership with them, this would not be needed? Why move items to a dedicated packing area if we could perform the packing in tandem with the assembly operation for the product and eliminate this movement? Why move parts from one end of a factory to another, and back again, if a little more thought in laying out the plant differently might take out this activity?
So, JIT became Lean when it was recognised that parts arriving only when required and only in the quantities required is only a part of the story.
Source: www.training-management.info, Ian Henderson
Essential Vocabulary
1. Material Requirements Planning – планирование потребности в материалах
2. Manufacturing Resource Planning – планирование производственных ресурсов
3. stock n – акция; товарные запасы
4. sophistication n – искушенность, изощренность, сложность
sophisticated a – искушенный, изощренный, сложный
5. lead time – время между размещением заказа и получением материалов от поставщика; время между началом производственного процесса и изготовлением первого изделия или всей партии
6. inventory n – запасы
7. just-in-time (JIT) – система «точно в срок»
8. breakthrough n – прорыв
9. highlight n – центр внимания, основной момент
highlight v – освещать, выдвигать на первый план
10. counterpart n – двойник, аналог, копия, дубликат; противная сторона
11. batch n – партия, группа
12. order n – приказ, распоряжение; заказ
order v – приказывать, распоряжаться; заказывать
13. set-up n – установка, наладка, система
set up v – устанавливать, налаживать
14. offset n – зачет, компенсация, возмещение
offset v – зачитывать, компенсировать, возмещать
15. workload n – рабочая нагрузка
16. Master Production Scheduling – главный план-график производства
17. accounting n – бухгалтерский учет
accounting a – бухгалтерский
18. accounting conventions – учетные правила
19. compliance n – согласие, соответствие правилам, соблюдение (законов, правил)
comply (with) v – соглашаться, соответствовать, соблюдать
20. quality circles – кружки качества
21. demand n – спрос, требование, потребность, нужда
demand v – требовать
demanding a – требовательный, сложный
22. failure n – неудача, провал, банкротство; отказ (в работе), повреждение, срыв, авария
fail v – потерпеть неудачу, провалиться, обанкротиться; отказать
23. expediting n – связь с поставщиками, время исполнения (время для розыска и выполнения потерянного или неправильно направленного заказа)
expeditor n – диспетчер, экспедитор
expedite v – ускорять
24. work-in-progress (WIP) – незавершенное производство, полуфабрикаты
25. cycle time – время рабочего цикла
26. layout n – схема расположения, компоновка, планировка, чертеж
lay out v – располагать, размещать; выделять средства
27. waste n – отходы, потери; расточительство, перерасход
waste v – терять, тратить попусту, расточать
28. dedication n – посвящение, преданность, приверженность
dedicate v – посвящать
dedicated a – посвященный, приверженный, преданный
29. lean manufacturing – рациональное производство
Exercise 1. Answer the following questions.
1. What were the news from Japan that amazed the US manufactureres and scholars around 1980? 2. What was the company that pioneered the development of the Japanese manufacturing principles? 3. Why did the US companies manufacture components and parts in large batches? 4. Why did the US companies hold safety stocks? 5. What were the ideas of the US quality gurus that the Japanese successfully applied? 6. What other contributors to improved quality did the JIT approach consider? 7. What was the underlying principle of the quality circles? 8. Why were partnership relations with suppliers so important? 9. Why does it make economic sense to eliminate variety? 10. How did the Japanese shorten cycle times? 11. What was the basic idea of kanban? 12. Why were the Japanese companies happy when they discovered some problem in a process? 13. What is the key premise of the Lean Manufacturing?
Exercise 2. An American car manufacturer hired a Japanese consultant to help enhance its competitiveness and cut costs. The advisor suggested applying some of the Japanese manufacturing principles. Invent a dialogue between the US vice-president for production and the foreign consultant. Use the following terms.
JIT
kanban
batch size
safety stocks
long-term partnership relations with suppliers
elimination of variety
shorter cycle-times
quality circles
elimination of waste
problem-solving
lean manufacturing
commitment to excellence
Exercise 3. Compare the American and Japanese management principles along the following lines.
