Lean manufacturing was pioneered by Toyota Motor Company in Japan during the 1950s. It has since become the standard for many manufacturing companies in Japan and around the world. This production system tries to improve on the type of mass production systems that have been prominent in the post-war period. Instead of organizing production according to a pre-set schedule it operates on the prem...

Overall, manufacturers have benefited from being the focal point of value creation (materials, labor, etc. required to produce a product), as their role in the process represents the largest percentage of cost within the supply chain. This status has helped manufacturers propel the development and standardization of process improvement tools and techniques, such as Value Stream Mapping, 5S, And...

‘Survival of the fittest’ is the reality in modern global competition. Organizations around the globe are adopting or willing to embrace just-in-time (JIT) production to reinforce the competitiveness. Even though JIT is the most powerful inventory management methodologies it is not free from barriers. Barriers derail the implementation of JIT production system. One of the most significant tasks...

Real-world manufacturing systems are operating subject to a substantial level of resource constraints. One characteristic model that considers the combination of human and machine resource constraints is called dual resource constrained (DRC). In this context a number of machines nmach is managed by a selection of operators nop, with typically nop ≤ nmach.. A real life case study for an Italian...

Earlier research has found that the presence of setup time variance can cause an adverse effect on waiting time and inventory as one reduces setup time for a product on a single machine that processes a number of products in a cyclic production system [Sarkar, D., Zangwill, W.I., 1991. Variance effects in cyclic production systems. Management Science 37 (4) 444–453; Zangwill, W.I., 1987. From E...

This paper reports our efforts towards developing a mathematical and information framework for optimization of machining processes within a Smart Machining System (SMS). An SMS uses diverse integrated technologies that enable an enterprise to: (1) produce the first and every product correct; (2) improve the response of the production system to changes in demand (just in time); (3) realize rapid...

This paper explains concepts underlying a just-in-time production system. Just-in-time production systems as implemented by Toyota are pull systems in which ‘kanban’ convey the need to replenish the right inventory at the right time and in the right amount. In this paper, symbols from manufacturing are introduced to map resource flows in order to help distinguish traditionalfrom lean production...

In just-in-time (JIT) production systems, there is both input stock in the form of parts and output stock in the form of product at each stage. These activities are controlled by production-ordering and withdrawal kanbans. This paper discusses a discrete-time optimal control problem in a multistage JIT-based production and distribution system with stochastic demand and capacity, developed to mi...

In this paper, we develop an economic production quantity (EPQ) model under machine breakdown and two types of repair (corrective and preventive). also, study the simultaneous effect of holding safety stock and purchasing policy. In order to avoid shortages occurring as a result of the random repair time, in addition to keep safety stock, we suppose that the manufacturer could purchase some qua...

In a just-in-time (JIT) system, kanban number and size represent the inventory level of work-in-process (WIP) or purchasing parts. It is an important issue to determine the feasible kanban number and size. In this research, an integrated multiple-objective genetic algorithm (MOGA) based system is developed to determine the Pareto-optimal kanban number and size, and is applied in a JIT-oriented ...