Essays on Just In Time

Business Model Generation

Toyota seeks to reduce its cost of production by outsourcing most of the parts that are used in the assembling of its vehicles. For this purpose, Toyota has various key partners from who it outsources its various parts. Simchi-Levi, Kaminsky & Simchi-Levi (2008) argues that Toyota produces 30% of the automotive parts in-house while the remaining 70% of the parts are outsourced. All the engines of the company are produced in-house because the company possesses the capacity and knowledge, and would also want to exercise all the control with regards to the quality of its engines (Simchi-Levi, Kaminsky & Simchi-Levi, 2008). ...

Describe the challenges faced by the company. What were the drivers for change to the supply chain?

The strong competition in the home appliance market, alongside customers’ increased demand sophistication, created the premises for Whirlpool to change its supply chain structure and organization. Looking at Porter’s five forces framework, the main forces that impacted Whirlpool’s supply chain redesign were the intensity of the industry rivalry and the bargaining power of consumers (Porter, 1985). As the case study informs, Whirlpool Corporation needed to transform its supply chain so that it could better satisfy its customers through improved quality of its products and services (“Whirlpool Supply Chain”, n.d.). With this market requirement, the company addressed the ...

Counter Measures to the Bullwhip Effect

Introduction The bullwhip effect is the unexpected distortion of the supply chain. It refers to the “variability of order rates” (Disney and Lambrecht, 2008, p. 3). This supply chain hazard has its roots in Jay Forrester’s Industrial Dynamics Theory of the late 1950s (Goldsby and Martichenko, 2005). Forrester was the first person to introduce the concept and simulate a model in 1961. There are many solutions to counter the bullwhip effect. The reason why there are many solutions to the bullwhip effect is because it is triggered by multiple causes. For instance, the most common cause is overreacting ...

The most important element of Kroc’s strategy was a concept of uniformity. Thanks to his experience in sales, Kroc recognized the significance of uniform standards. His strategy guaranteed that customers of McDonald’s all over the country could anticipate receiving the meal of same size and quality in different restaurants and these expectations would be met by McDonald’s franchisees, no matter where they were located. In order to achieve this ideal of uniformity, Kroc developed standards of operation, trained franchisees and monitored all McDonald’s outlets to ensure that they met these standards. In addition, Kroc’s ...

Zara

Introduction and Background The case of Zara, a famous fashion clothing manufacturer, has been considered with the focus on inventory management and lean operations. The major aim of lean manufacturing (Just-In-Time) is to reduce the cost through having control over inventory and reducing waste. Zara is a fast fashion retailer and fashion changes rapidly. Therefore, it is difficult to estimate the demand for products. Hence, Zara procures the material in bulk and cut the clothes into pieces. However, when fashion changes and demand for any specific design rise, the retailer prepares the dresses on demand (Just-In-Time). In this way, ...

Analyze major events and technological advantages that influenced modern Health Care Information Systems.

If we go back to look at the healthcare system of the 1960’s we will see two major payers Medicare and Medicaid. The database systems of these payers were crude and primary at best and that did not make much difference because the payers only accepted payer claims that were handwritten by a secretary. Moving to the 1970’s brings the advent of the large clinical labs and pharmacy. Computers in the 1970’s began in single departments and consecutive departments were added one the viability was proven on each single department. The 1980’s is the time ...

Just-in-time (JIT)

Just in Time in production may also be referred to as the Toyota production system or Just in time production. This is a method whose primary objectives is to decrease flow periods within manufacturing as well as response time from customers and suppliers. It originated in Japan in the 1960s at a Toyota factory. It was mitigated to the western industries in the 1980s where many manufacturing industries practiced it. Just In time manufacturing strategy struggles to advance organization returns on a business venture by decreasing the procedure inventory and the linked costs. This just in time in production ...

The cost which the organization incurs the production and acquisition of products and services which it intends to sell is very important. The pricing strategy of the organization is significantly affected by costs. Therefore, costs designed to tackle the challenges of the economic and the noneconomic factors very efficiently. The objective of the costing models is to categorize the factors of the marketing objectives of the company and the mission of the company (Gitman, 2003).

Accurately determination of cost is important in organization to remain profitable. Costing does not only require including direct and indirect cost associated with business ...

According to Gygi and Williams (2012), Lean refers to creating value to customers using fewer resources. The main idea behind the concept of lean is maximising customer’s value and minimise wastes. Manufacturing refers to the process of production of goods. Therefore, lean manufacturing refers to the production of superior quality goods for the customers at significantly affordable prices. Some of the importance of the lean manufacturing to the business organization includes:

- Building quality in the production process - Elimination of waste in the production process - Developing a unique approach towards corporate management. - Developing ...

Introduction

This paper discusses inventory management techniques used by firms. It also discusses techniques used by American Airlines to minimize costs and maximize profits.

Inventory management

Inventory management entails the processes and functions responsible for the maintenance, record keeping, reception and delivery of inventory and related products in any given business concern. The inventory management is one of the functions that any business organization should strategically address if is to achieve its profit maximization and costs minimization objectives. Inventory should be managed well so as to incur related management costs in the least way possible. Businesses employ different techniques and approaches in ...

Executive Summary

This paper espouses the application of lean management system of Just in Time Distribution (JITD) by a manufacturing company called Barilla Spa. At the onset, the fundamental problem in the operations of Barilla is that there are various fluctuations in their pasta orders. These are brought about by several factors like transportation discounts, volume discount, promotional activity, the lack of a minimum or maximum order quantities, product proliferation, long order lead times, poor customer service rates, and poor communication. This case considers all these problems to come up with a better system which primarily involves a more effective and efficient approach to shorten ...

Introduction

Material Requirements Planning (MRP) and Kanban control systems are one of the most prominent production planning and inventory control systems of today. These systems are the most popular implementations of push and pull strategies respectively. Speaking of MRP, it is a material control system that tries to maintain adequate inventory levels to ensure that the required materials are available, when needed. MRP is used where there are multiple items with complex bills of materials. It is not suited for continuous processes that are tightly linked.

The major objective of an MRP system is to simultaneously:

- Ensure the material availability, components, and products for customer delivery and planned production. ...

The current workflow is analyzed with a view of finding the most appropriate workflow that will be more effective than the current one. Shuzworld has to consider a number of things considered in this scenario to be able to enhance with efficacy the productivity of the company.

The table shows the production time for the boots.

The above shows the graph of the time against projects Looking at the graph, the projects that take the highest time is A, D and H. the high level of the three projects reduces the amount of G and, therefore, Shuzworld need to reduce the level from eight to five as is illustrated ...

Introduction

Traditional and well-known manufacturing companies often struggle to implement newer process changes and manufacturing practices in business. Economic order quantity was a popular concept in the early part of 20th century. Almost all companies then used economic order quantity purchasing policy. Most of the companies probably benefitted from implementing economic order quantity (EOQ), but some failed as it was not relevant for the product type and industry. In the later part of 20th century, many new manufacturing process techniques came into limelight. Just in Time system, Toyota Production System, Theory of Constraints, MRP and ERP systems, TPM, Lean manufacturing and ...

Abstract

The use of a systematic approach which eliminates wastes by the creation of a flow that is determined by customer pull has greatly transformed process design in organizations. This approach is known as lean thinking while the process of deploying this methodology and achieving its aim is known as the Lean process. This paper describes the concept of the lean process and manufacturing with focus on the Toyota Production System. A brief history and background of the lean process is described and the background of the Toyota Production System is also described.

Introduction

Several organizations today are making the lean process an ...

Business

Introduction Smitheford pharmaceutical is a pharmaceutical company that was founded in 1878 by Robert Smitheford, who was a general during the civil war. The company expanded to become a large firm and even opened branches in cities such as Colorado, Durango among others. However, as time went by, the technological dynamics and change in pharmaceuticals industry rules have impacted the company negatively and, therefore, needs to review how it conducts its business. In addition, though, the company utilizes employee incentives to ensure and enhance employee satisfaction, the lack of proper implementation of the quality management philosophies have not helped the ...

- Return on investment commonly referred to as ROI is a profitability ratio that determines how much an investor or a company gets form an investment. In this case, it is calculated through use of net profits form the production process and the cost of investment.

=1,005,000/5,000,000=20.1% - Just-in-time purchasing advocates zero inventories and stock less production within an organization through just in time purchasing and production. The objective is to purchase goods so that stocks are delivered immediately before the production process starts. As such, the method calls for strong supplier relationships to ensure that the ...

Cover page 1

Introduction of Report . 3 Summary 3 Main body of Report .... 3 Order management .. 4

Unplanned orders 5

Inventory 6 Employee Management 6 Cost tracking, cost allocation and pricing . 7 Conclusion and Recommendations . 8 Signed .... 8

References 9

Accessing CoolSchool and Scrubs Companies Report Introduction: I was asked by the managing director to write a report regarding the merger of CoolSchool and Scrubs plc and identify the differences between the important operations of companies which are performed in different ways and suggestions. Summary: This report has described the advantages of merger between ...

Operations Management Performance Objectives

Any organization must be concerned with how to keep customers satisfied and achieve higher levels of success in the market industry. The common answers to these questions or the features that customers seek in any product/service are the quick delivery system, improved quality of services and products, and reasonable prices. It is important for the organizations to consider operational performance objectives to improve efficiency and make customers satisfied. Operational performance objectives are the guidelines or standards followed by the management to achieve the set corporate strategies. The organizations define measures that are used to determine if performance objectives ...

Halogen Bulbs - Cellulose Insulation - Aluminum Ladders - Bamboo Fly Rods

Decision making is an important element that associated with an organization for their betterment and long run efficacy. There are basically two broad types of organizations are there known as manufacturing organizations and service oriented organizations, and both of the types of companies are delivering something extra and something new for their end users. In this part of the assignment, it is required to analyze the production system for the Halogen Bulbs, Aluminum Ladders, Cellulose Insulation and Bamboo Fly Roads. Apart from that, it is also required to analyze the most effective cost method that would be effective for ...

Marketing

Introduction It is the endeavor of our company to produce an organic face lightening cream for women in the USA, and to sell it in China and Japan. The company will evaluate worldwide marketing opportunities and develop an international marketing entry strategy.

Evaluating Worldwide Marketing Opportunities

For the sake of simplicity, the evaluation of countries would be restricted to Asia. Preliminary Screening Criteria for Eliminating Countries The organic skin lightening cream is a premium product, as opposed to mass-market beauty products. While it is a premium product, it needs to be sold in large volumes to be profitable. Therefore, the target markets ...

Q.1. The most important argument for a stable schedule is that Lean is not very capable of dealing with a situation where sudden changes in production levels occur, since this affects the other entities in the system. For instance, given a stable process, a sudden change would either lead to stoppage in some part of the assembly, or another such problem. This would lead to a stoppage of work throughout the line. Since the lean system works on a ‘just in time’ concept, suppliers would also be affected since inventory gets shipped from the supplier’s side only when required. Thus, a stable schedule becomes paramount ...

- What type of channel conflict is likely to be caused by dual distribution, and what type of conflict can be reduced by direct distribution? Why? (10 points) Often, multiple locations compete to meet market demand, although the basic product, service or price is quite similar. It may also affect the channel choice of a customer. On the other hand, it allows firms to gain access to different customer segments, creating an opportunity for an increase in market demand and size of the market share. Market segmentation conflicts can be reduced by direct distribution, where a larger market ...

Abstract

Effective development and deployment of e-commerce information systems largely defines the success of an organization and this is based on changing functional attributions of the technological platform in application. The current dynamism attributed by technology, globalization, modernization and internet has distributed the nature of e-commerce while also depicting the essence of developments and innovations. These factors are important for the various technologies which encompasses the utilization of respective components of e-commerce information systems. There are various components or ancillary technology elements based on e-commerce information systems and which are examined within the paradigm of newer technological platforms. Online retailers ...

Introduction

When it comes to organizations, then there are two important things which are more than essential for them, which particularly are cost and revenues and both of these provisions are quite important for the sake of an organization. Organization basically refers to a place wherein people belong to different demographics and mindset work together merely for the achievement of a single and pre-specified goal in particular There are certain things which are more than essential for a company to manage their operations and financial structure. Among these provisions, the name of costing is one of them, which has its own significance ...

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to provide a basic overview of lean supply chain methodology. This will also provide how the concept was evolved over the years. The paper will provide a brief overview of the basic pillars of lean supply chain and then look at the tools used to implement and monitor lean supply chain methodology. This paper also will discuss the limitations of the current lean supply chains methodology. It will then compare lean supply chain concepts with agile supply chains and green supply chains to bring out the similarities and differences. Finally the paper will provide some ...

Executive summary

As the newly appointed head of the travel and hotel support operations strategic unit of this company, I have thoroughly schemed through these units activities and would like to present my suggestions on some of the changes that need to be made in the company’s operational activities. My role as the head of the operations strategic unit is to manage the product portfolio of this unit. The operations unit is responsible for providing all the services offered by this company to its various clients. I have scrutinized my area of control and have come up with a concrete proposal ...

JIT - Just in time, business refers to a set production strategy in a business that improves and assists returns on investment. This is only possible through a reduction of the in process inventory alongside with any other associated cost incurred. it mostly dependence on the signal that existence in between different given points within the production process. This simply means that it diverts its focus on a continuous improvement of the returns on investments, high quality and efficiency of an organization. It thus implies that for all these to be attain, there should be commitment and much focus to key areas such ...

Just in time production systems are based upon the simple concept that excess work in progress is a waste of company resources. This is a part of a “Lean” manufacturing system. Toyota is one of the pioneers of this manufacturing style. It uses a “push” or a “pull” style assembly line and kanban cards to ensure that there are no excessive resources wasted on building inventory that is not needed. As with a classic assembly line, the product moves down the line and receives an additional part at each assembly node on the line. In either the push or pull style there are assembly stations ...

Review of the Current Situation

Calculations: Average Inventory for plastic brack product line (which is 85% of total construction hardware inventories = Beginning Inventory + Ending Inventory/2 Average Inventory= 295,200*85% +271,000*85%/2 = $240,635 Inventory Turn = Cost of Goods Sold of Construction Hardware/ Average Inventory Inventory Turn= 1,874,000/240,635=7.79 ~ 8 days These calculations suggest that the average inventory is worth of $240,635 and the inventory turnover is 8 days, which means that the finished inventory is delivered for sale to the customers after eight days of moving into the warehouse. It suggests to me, ...

Introduction

The term lean production refers to a management production approach that focuses on reducing waste while at the same time ensuring that high quality products are produced. The lean production tools and principles aims at reducing costs associated with production as well as ensuring that the process of production is made efficient and responsive to the needs of the market. Lean production can be used in all aspects of production ranging from design to distribution of the products produced.

The company is currently facing certain problems which are making production which are reducing production inefficiency. For instance, large amount of ...

Abstract

An innovator is a person who develops new ideas and looks for efficient ways of accomplishing a certain task. Innovation is the art of developing new ideas and looking for efficient ways of accomplishing a certain task. This means that an innovator can include people across all the professions that currently exist in the world (ANDREW, 2010). An innovator does not necessarily have to be a business person he or she can even be an engineer. This paper seeks to conduct an audit of the Toyota Motor Global Corporation. The main objective of this study is to analysis of strategy, structure, culture, human ...

Business Plan

- EXECUTIVE SUMMARY This is a business plan for Rael & Nick Footwears established in 2012. The business plan focuses on operational strategies aimed at addressing product design and process selection. The operational plan further elaborates on how the firm intends to gain a competitive advantage in the market. The plan also highlights the key components of supply chain management that shall be used and the role supply chain management plays in the firm, Total Quality Management and how it can be exploited as a competitive advantage. This business plan intends to present in a summary form the strategies the firm shall employ ...

Lean system or most commonly known as Just-in-Time (JIT) systems is business philosophy which main goal is to eliminate waste while increasing efficiency. This is believed have originated from the Toyota Production System and is commonly used in manufacturing companies. Just-in-time system as it literally means ideally refers to producing or delivering materials just in time for the next process to start or just in time when customers need it although in real life this could be somewhat difficult. Aside from increasing efficiency the overall desired achievement when implementing JIT is the continuous improvement of outputs and processes that ...

Scheduling approaches are short term implementation plans for a production industry. Therefore, schedule approaches like just in time production, and e-business in the supply chain describes which activities should be performed, and how the organization is to do that. There are assumptions that must be made in a scheduling plan. These include, fix number of jobs, and time allocation for job completion. This allows for analysis of starting time, idle time, completing time and lateness. In addition, well planned scheduling approaches can enable calculation of task completion time. Thus, in the long run they help in saving time since every activity ...

Introduction

Nike Incorporation was formed in 1968 in Oregon. The company is a well known global brand producing footwear products which are designed to satisfy specific athletic uses as well as certain products which can be worn for leisure and casual purposes. The corporation has operations in more than 51 countries and has over 20,000 retail accounts internationally (Nike, 2012). Nike has 16 distribution centers outside United States and in 2011, 57 percent of its total revenue came from its international operations (Annual Report, 2011). Since Nike is a global firm, it has to face a number of challenges which include making ...

OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT

Introduction

Since time immemorial, the management of operations in a firm has always been a source of concern by firms. Generally, an operation refers to any method, process, or even a series of activities practiced in practical nature. The definition encompasses all the human activities in a firm. Operation management can be termed an aspect of efficient management of any operations. Individuals refer to operations and production as being two different aspects of an entity. However, all operations can be termed as collective and therefore are of concern to every individual in a firm. To this end, this paper aims at reviewing literature on ...

STRATEGIES USED BY TOYOTA TO TURN IT INTO A POWERHOUSE:

Apart from this the management of Toyota from the beginning has been focusing on the cost leadership strategy. For this purpose the company is taking advantage of the lower wage rates at emerging countries. Apart from this, in order to target the emerging markets and economies Toyota uses the strategy of cost leadership and comes up with low cost cars and vehicles (Funaru, 2010). Hence it can be said that the strategies of low cost leadership and ‘going global but acting local’ have helped Toyota Motors to turn into a powerhouse. Toyota has been able to enter and operate in ...

External and Internal Environments

Background Founded by Michael Dell in the mid 1980s, Dell Computers is one of the leading computer technology corporations in the world. At the height of the technology boom of the early 1990s, Dell reached a level where it had grown too large too fast to a point that it had to make radical internal changes to stay profitable (Fleisher & Bensoussan, 2007). The company’s rock bottom was in 1993 when it lost a considerable portion of its market share, saw its cash flow and net income drop to $20 million and negative $ 40 million respectively. This called for rapid strategic ...

High Variable Demand Patterns

The motor vehicle industry has an extremely high variable demand patterns. This is because demand for a motor vehicle depends on the technological level at the time which always changes rapidly. To be able to adapt to the variable demand patterns, most companies in the motor vehicle industry have employed the Just in Time system. Just in Time system is a pull system that responds to the prevailing demand patterns, as opposed to a push system, where inventory acts as a buffer between production and sales. JIT production produces the demanded commodity, at the required quality, in the exact quantities required and within ...

Introduction

The success of a company depends on the company’s attention to the short-term decisions. Short-term decisions affect the management of current assets and current liabilities. The company’s liquidity position depends majorly on the level of current assets of the company. If a company is to survive in the business, it must have the ability of generating enough cash that meets its short-term (current) needs (Bhattacharya, 2004).

Working capital management is therefore an important factor in the success of a company, both in the short term and long term. The degree of solvency or liquidity depends on the extent to which ...

Modern accounting systems

Introduction

Developments in Information and communication technologies have lead to the development of numerous accounting software. These accounting software have facilitated development of modern accounting systems. Examples of accounting packages are; QuickBooks, Sage, Cashcall, Mind Your Own Business (MYOB) and Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP), [ CITATION Ree05 \l 1033 ].Modern accounting systems have revolutionized the way accounting is done and had a great impact on businesses. This paper discusses the impact of modern accounting systems on organizations.

Improvement in financial reporting

Many organizations obtain funds from various sources. The various providers of funds have different information needs therefore financial reports need to be structured to ...

Abstract

Supply chain management has its origin from the; just in time production and logistics. It continues to flourish in the manufacturing sector although it is still largely dominated by logistics[ CITATION Rob97 \l 1033 ]. SCM however is more focused on covering the whole scope of the supply chain by attempting to view and solve problems from a supply chain perspective, while taking to consideration the interdependency that is evident in any supply chain. Its main objective is to ensure that, the myopic control of the supply chain that encourages increase in waste and problems is done away with at all ...