People Involvement

A JIT manufacturing system requires a strong human resources management component for its successful implementation. Firms impart the required skills to their workforce by training them in the JIT philosophy, assigning them appropriate responsibilities, coordinating their goal-directed efforts and motivating them. The JIT system aims at the continuous improvement of the firm's operations and minimization of wastage (or underutilization) of human capital.

Therefore, the JIT system encourages employees and suppliers to be innovative and make use of their creative talents. Firms look for the following three essential elements in its people for the successful implementation of a JIT program:

• Teamwork

• Discipline

• Supplier involvement                          

Teamwork

The effective involvement of people can arise only through a spirit of teamwork; they should interact with each other to identify, define, and solve problems. Activities to involve the people in an organization include suggestion programs and quality circle programs. In suggestion programs, employees are encouraged to make suggestions to improve a process. In quality circles, people working in similar types of operations meet at regular intervals and discuss ways of improving the quality of their processes. Project teams that work on ad-hoc basis can also be formed to focus on the achievement of specific improvement targets. It is therefore imperative that the JIT system has an open management style and an organization-wide attitude of teamwork, so that each employee works to improve the performance of the firm by suggesting improvements to existing methods.

Discipline

The open and improvement-driven work culture discussed should not imply that workers are free to implement whatever methods they like. Instead, existing procedures should be continued until a better way is suggested, tested, and approved. Suggestions made by workers for improving processes are first collected and evaluated by the management of the firm. The selected suggestions are tested practically to determine how much better the new process is, compared to the existing process. If the suggested process proves better than the existing one, the management approves it for implementation. Thus, firms that follow the JIT system use the creativity of workers in conjunction with their teamwork and discipline to produce products and services of good quality.

Supplier involvement

Firms that practice JIT production systems require reliable suppliers who can supply high-quality components and materials in the required quantities. Therefore, JIT firms maintain long-term business relationships with a few selected suppliers. Firms may also invite their suppliers' representatives to participate in design review, to suggest new designs, and methods for improving product quality or productivity.

Generally, JIT firms have contracts with their suppliers, to provide supplies of the required quality specifications and target prices. This is done in preference to inviting competitive bids from a set of suppliers. The contract should be reasonably profitable to both the supplier as well as the JIT firm in the long run. The supplier should abide by the rules and regulations of the contract and supply materials within the time specified in the contract. The JIT firm can also suggest means, and provide assistance, to improve supplier productivity and product quality. The JIT firm may also wish to share its production plans and schedules with its suppliers so that they can plan their levels of business and capacity requirements, and make necessary arrangements with their vendors.

The presence of trust and commitment is very important in building partnerships between suppliers and JIT firms. Such partnerships help them achieve higher productivity levels. Since the contract between supplier and buyer is long-term in nature, the attitude of each party towards the other should be fair. Long-term contracts provide security to suppliers as long as they are competitive and committed.

Building effective partnerships depends on four elements: trust, communication, linearity of production, and time to make changes. The supplier should trust his customer (the JIT firm) and have confidence that his customer will provide him more business and make timely payments if his requirements are met. This makes both firms work more closely than actually specified in the contract. Communications also play an important role in establishing a good partnership. To overcome communication problems, the JIT firms can establish a buyer - quality engineer team that stays in constant touch with its suppliers. This reduces potential miscommunication with the firm's suppliers. Suppliers should also inform the JIT firm about new programs undertaken by them to improve quality and should ensure the timely delivery of supplies.

Linear production schedules relate to the development of production schedules with uniform workloads. Since these schedules contribute to the improvement of the firm's manufacturing operations, the supplying firms should tailor their schedules to the JIT firm's needs. Maintaining linear production schedules requires the identification and elimination of production bottlenecks, balance in the production system, and reduction in setup time. JIT firms should also provide enough time to their suppliers so that they can respond to changes in demand. Sometimes, suppliers have to purchase new materials, add more machinery and equipment, hire and train labor, etc. in line with the requirements of the JIT firm.              

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