When the supplier is next door, the “basic assumption” that you can always get the parts that are needed, when they are needed isn't a bad assumption. After sudden swings in demand, freak weather and a series of accidents, they are reassessing their basic assumption that they could always get the parts they needed when they needed them.” “The hyperefficient auto supply chain symbolized by the words “just in time” is undergoing its biggest transformation in more than half a century, accelerated by the troubles car makers have suffered during the pandemic. The vaccine supply chain might be more JIT than some of these automotive semiconductors or other parts might be. There are degrees of “just in time” - it's not binary yes/no. If you're filling syringes in a subassembly area that's in the same large room as the vaccine injections, you can have a “just in time” delivery of syringes to vaccinators and the patient.īut, the vaccines themselves are shipped in large batches, which requires storage as the amount shipped doesn't match exactly hour-to-hour with the number of people vaccinated. Think of a healthcare example, like a vaccination clinic. When you have longer, slower, less reliable supply chains - you need more inventory. It just goes to show that JIT doesn't work for all parts from all suppliers - and that's ALWAYS been true. That fact doesn't mean that Toyota is “retreating” from JIT. “ Toyota Motor Corp. is stockpiling up to four months of some parts.” The Journal confuses real JIT (flow and local suppliers that result in low inventory) with the result or goal of low inventory. But, the media often thinks ALL deliveries to auto plants (even from China) should be labeled “just in time.” They're missing the details and they're mislabeling some of what automakers do as the general practice of JIT.Ĭase in point, yet another article from the WSJ that gets it wrong (as I've been cataloging for over 15 years on this blog): Auto Makers Retreat From 50 Years of ‘Just in Time' Manufacturing Pressured by pandemic, the hyperefficient supply-chain model pioneered by Toyota is under assault There are times when the automakers need to deviate from the JIT ideal. As we've seen in the news recently, computer chips increasingly come from China and that means longer, less predictable supply chains. Sometimes a special component only comes from a plant in Japan. Now, there are times when there are exceptions to the local supplier ideal. Just in Time should not bring to mind images of container ships and train cars. ![]() “…the “Just-in-Time” concept, in which each process produces only what is needed for the next process in a continuous flow.”Ī literal slow boat from China is not “continuous flow.” When you have such long distances, you have to guess what is needed instead of being able to product and ship only what is needed. The default is NOT shipping parts across the country or halfway around the world, from China or elsewhere. Having local suppliers allows for FREQUENT deliveries, in small quantities - what is needed, when it's needed. Many of these key suppliers are basically in the same building as the assembly line… with a bit of a demarkation. ![]() If you visit, for example, the Toyota factory in San Antonio, they have at least 18 ON-SITE suppliers. This image - a huge container ship coming from a far-off land - does NOT represent the Lean and Toyota Production System notion of “Just in Time.”
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |