Although relatively unknown, the just-in-time manufacturing concept has been a stalwart of many manufacturing industries for several decades now. The idea is to reduce the costs associated with manufacturing by lowering the in-process inventory level to a bare minimum. The process is driven by a series of signals, so the production line only assembles the next component when it’s required. These signals are usually simple visual signals in manufacturing setups that employ human labor, or they can be computerized in automated setups. With just-in-time manufacturing, reorder levels for certain inventory items are set, and new stock is ordered only when…
An introduction to “just-in-time” manufacturing
