Just In Time

Just-In-Time means that each process must be provided with the items required, at the right moment, in the right amount, and at the right place. Enabling JIT depends on three fundamentally interconnected elements: continuous flow, takt time, and pull production.

Continuous flow meets the need for lower production lead time and, ideally, means one-piece flow with no work in process.

Takt time is the period needed to produce a component or finished product, based on client demand. In other words, takt time links and conditions production rates to sales rates.

Following the logic of pull systems, suppliers only produce when there is demand from a client. The demand is expressed through kanban, a signaling system between clients and suppliers that tells the supplier process exactly what, how much and when to produce.