Just In Time Manufacturing Case Study

Henry Ford, the founder of Ford Motor Company, managed to change the price of the Ford Model T from six hundred dollars into four hundred and ninety dollars. He did this by looking at the total cost it took to manufacture and minimized it again and again. This is known as total cost minimization. He invented new ways of going about the production process, the assembly line being what he spent most of his time on. The work of Henry Ford very close to perfect total cost minimization. As an engineer, it is important to be able to reduce the cost whenever possible to maximize efficiency. Throughout the past decades engineers have been able to invent various other ways to reduce the total cost, many of which are being used today. Total cost minimization …show more content…
The first component of just in time manufacturing that lowers cost is the concept of just in time delivery. Instead of having the parts arrive at the factory, storing them in a warehouse and having to access the parts at a later time, the parts are used immediately upon arrival. This requires the parts to be brought in on a much smaller scale, by the truckload instead of by the trainload. This also requires there to be a very complex logistic system that ensures that all of the parts required arrive exactly when they need to, because if they don’t production could come to a halt. Despite all of that, the gain in production speed and the absence of the expense from building the warehouses and maintaining the warehouses makes it a profitable strategy. As well, there is no need for a complex organization system for stored parts in the warehouse, and much less workers are needed to be employed as movers of parts in the factory. Another way just in time manufacturing reduces total cost is by avoiding producing more than required in a short amount of time. With constant analysis of the demand of the company’s product, the company is able to avoid making what they will not sell immediately. This allows for the company to save great amounts of money over time because they will be able to use the money elsewhere earlier than they could usually without just in time manufacturing. …show more content…
One thing the workers can be taught is how to work in another area in the facility. This way, if one of the workers were to get sick, have a heart attack, or anything else that would make them unable to do their job, another one could be called in to replace them immediately to keep the production going. This way, the flow of production does not rely on any single worker. Also, workers could be given tools and training that would make doing their job much more efficient. Doing a bolt with a power tool is many times faster than doing it by hand, it could save a few seconds at one worker 's station. This few seconds may not be a lot on its own, but when it is done hundreds of times during a working day, the time starts to add up very quickly. All of this gained time can be used to produce even more product in the same amount of time. The cost of training the worker and buying the tool does exist, but it is worth the increase in production. In addition, if a worker knows how the system should run and how the product should look, they can tell if there is an issue with the work they are doing. An ignorant worker would just let mistakes happen and cause a significant amount of product to be useless, making the time and money spent making the product a waste. If this worker were to be replaced with one that understood the whole process and was able to identify if something