Contents
Publisher’s Message………………………………………………………………ix
Foreword to the Original English Edition…………………………………xi
Introduction to the Original English Edition…………………………..xiii
Volume 1
1 Production Management and JIT Production Management…….1
Approach to Production Management……………………………………………3
Overview of the JIT Production System…………………………………………7
Introduction of the JIT Production System…………………………………….12
2 Destroying Factory Myths: A Revolutionary Approach…………35
Relations among Sales Price, Cost, and Profit………………………………..35
Ten Arguments against the JIT Production Revolution…………………….40
Approach to Production as a Whole…………………………………………….44
Index………………………………………………………………………………….I-1
About the Author………………………………………………………………..I-31
Volume 2
3 “Wastology”: The Total Elimination of Waste……………………..145
Why Does Waste Occur?…………………………………………………………..146
Types of Waste……………………………………………………………………….151
How to Discover Waste……………………………………………………………179
How to Remove Waste…………………………………………………………….198
Secrets for Not Creating Waste…………………………………………………..226
4 The “5S” Approach…………………………………………………………237
What Are the 5S’s?…………………………………………………………………..237
Red Tags and Signboards: Proper Arrangement and Orderliness Made Visible………………………………………………………….265
The Red Tag Strategy for Visual Control……………………………………..268
The Signboard Strategy: Visual Orderliness…………………………………293
Orderliness Applied to Jigs and Tools…………………………………………307
Volume 3
5 Flow Production…………………………………………………………….321
Why Inventory Is Bad………………………………………………………………321
What Is Flow Production?…………………………………………………………328
Flow Production within and between Factories……………………………332
6 Multi-Process Operations……………………………………………….387
Multi-Process Operations: A Wellspring for Humanity on the Job……387
The Difference between Horizontal Multi-Unit Operations and Vertical Multi-Process Operations………………………………………………388
Questions and Key Points about Multi-Process Operations…………….393
Precautions and Procedures for Developing Multi-Process Operations……………………………………………………………………………..404
7 Labor Cost Reduction……………………………………………………..415
What Is Labor Cost Reduction?………………………………………………….415
Labor Cost Reduction Steps………………………………………………………419
Points for Achieving Labor Cost Reduction………………………………….422
Visible Labor Cost Reduction…………………………………………………….432
8 Kanban……………………………………………………………………….435
Differences between the Kanban System and Conventional Systems….435
Functions and Rules of Kanban………………………………………………..440
How to Determine the Variety and Quantity of Kanban……………….442
Administration of Kanban………………………………………………………..447
9 Visual Control……………………………………………………………….453
What Is Visual Control?…………………………………………………………….453
Case Study: Visual Orderliness (Seiton)……………………………………….459
Standing Signboards………………………………………………………………..462
Andon: Illuminating Problems in the Factory………………………………464
Production Management Boards: At-a-Glance Supervision……………..470
Relationship between Visual Control and Kaizen…………………………471
Volume 4
10 Leveling………………………………………………………………………..475
What Is Level Production?………………………………………………………..475
Various Ways to Create Production Schedules……………………………..477
Differences between Shish-Kabob Production and Level Production…..482
Leveling Techniques………………………………………………………………..485
Realizing Production Leveling……………………………………………………492
11 Changeover…………………………………………………………………..497
Why Is Changeover Improvement (Kaizen) Necessary?…………………497
What Is Changeover?……………………………………………………………….498
Procedure for Changeover Improvement…………………………………….500
Seven Rules for Improving Changeover………………………………………532
12 Quality Assurance…………………………………………………………541
Quality Assurance: The Starting Point in Building Products…………..541
Structures that Help Identify Defects………………………………………….546
Overall Plan for Achieving Zero Defects……………………………………..561
The Poka-Yoke System……………………………………………………………..566
Poka-Yoke Case Studies for Various Defects…………………………………586
How to Use Poka-Yoke and Zero Defects Checklists……………………..616
Volume 5
13 Standard Operations……………………………………………………..623
Overview of Standard Operations……………………………………………..623
How to Establish Standard Operations……………………………………….628
How to Make Combination Charts and Standard Operations Charts…..630
Standard Operations and Operation Improvements………………………638
How to Preserve Standard Operations………………………………………..650
14 Jidoka: Human Automation…………………………………………….655
Steps toward Jidoka…………………………………………………………………655
The Difference between Automation and Jidoka………………………….657
The Three Functions of Jidoka………………………………………………….658
Separating Workers: Separating Human Work from Machine Work…..660
Ways to Prevent Defects…………………………………………………………..672
Extension of Jidoka to the Assembly Line……………………………………676
15 Maintenance and Safety…………………………………………………683
Existing Maintenance Conditions on the Factory Floor………………….683
What Is Maintenance?………………………………………………………………684
CCO: Three Lessons in Maintenance………………………………………….689
Preventing Breakdowns……………………………………………………………683
Why Do Injuries Occur?…………………………………………………………..685
What Is Safety?……………………………………………………………………….688
Strategies for Zero Injuries and Zero Accidents…………………………….689
Volume 6
16 JIT Forms……………………………………………………………………..711
Overall Management……………………………………………………………….715
Waste-Related Forms……………………………………………………………….730
5S-Related Forms…………………………………………………………………….747
Engineering-Related Forms……………………………………………………….777
JIT Introduction-Related Forms………………………………………………….834
Introduction to the Original English Edition
In the future, I think we shall look back upon 1989 and 1990 as pivotal years in the transformation of Japan’s industrial structure.
During these years, abiding yen appreciation and trade friction will continue to devalue the advantages of Japanese domestic production. As a result, we will see more and more Japanese automakers, electronics firms, and other manufacturers shifting their production overseas.
Japan’s large “parent” companies are heading overseas in droves, leaving behind their “child” subcontractors. It would be nice if the parent companies could take their children with them, but the children generally lack the money, staff, technology, and marketing power to make the move. So the children are left behind to fend for themselves. They are entering a bitter battle for survival, in which many must enter into new industrial fields to pull through.
The high yen and the search for lower costs has also boosted the flow of Japan’s imports from the Asian NIES (Newly Industrialized Economic Societies) and the ASEAN countries. These parts and products are generally characterized by large volumes, unhurried schedules for production and delivery, and relatively lenient quality standards. By the same token, the goods that are still produced in Japan tend to have the opposite characteristics—small volumes, tight production and delivery schedules, top-notch quality, and marketable prices.
Japan’s ongoing trend toward market diversification has further fueled the demands for wide-variety, small-lot production with speedy delivery. Let it be understood at the outset that JIT production is neither one automaker’s production system nor is it the subcontractor’s curse. Instead, JIT consists of ideas and techniques for the complete elimination of waste.
In a sense, JIT production is a new field of industrial engineering (IE), one that thoroughly eliminates the waste that runs rampant in most factories while helping to build products that serve client needs. JIT production is also the kind of market-oriented or “market-in” production system that is increasingly needed in today’s fast-changing global marketplace.
This book is a compendium of the experiences and knowledge I have gained during many years of enthusiastic work in battling waste in factories and promoting the development of JIT production. As such, this is a manual for professional consultants. It enables them to tell the plain truth and to overcome vexing problems.
This book is not for sale to the general public. I would not want it to be sold that way. It is a book for manufacturing companies that are fighting desperately for survival and that will go to any length to improve their factories and overcome the obstacles to success. One could even call this book a “bible” for corporate survival.
Accordingly, this book is intended for only three types of readers: leading strategists for corporate survival, including top management; in-house JIT leaders; and professional JIT consultants.
Chapters 1 and 2 describe the JIT production approach and its underlying concepts. As you will see, the JIT approach casts off old concepts and introduces a revolutionary way of thinking.
Chapter 3 looks into the nature of waste and tells how we can scientifically identify waste and take comprehensive steps to remove it.
Chapter 4 takes up the 5S’s, which make up the foundation for making improvements in factories. This chapter will pay special attention to red-tagging and kanban techniques as devices for visual control and regulation of the factory.
Chapters 5 to 15 present explanations, backed by many case studies, of JIT techniques centered on flow manufacturing.
Finally, Chapter 16 includes a large selection of vouchers, lists, and other JIT-related forms, many of which can be photocopied and used as is. These forms can serve as effective tools in paving the way for JIT production.
This manual broadly falls into three parts. The first part presents JIT concepts, the middle part JIT techniques, and the last part tools for putting JIT into practice.
I will conclude by asking those of you who use this manual to avoid taking a piecemeal approach, such as adopting only the kanban or andon systems or aiming at only a limited range of improvements. The overall flow is the most important aspect of production, and the key ingredient for creating a good overall flow is comprehensive improvement—in other words, factory-based innovation. If readers understand this book and find it useful as a “bible” for building better products, I will gain the satisfaction of knowing that the five years of effort and expense invested in this project since its planning stage were not just another form of waste.
Hiroyuki Hirano