Effect of Lean

According to Lean Enterprise Institute, Lean thinking is "a business system for organizing and managing product development, operations, suppliers, and customer relations that requires less human effort and less time to make products with fewer defects to precise customer desires, compared with the previous system of mass production". (Lean Enterprise Institute, n.d.)

Just-in-Time (JIT) is defined as "A system of production that makes and delivers just what is needed, just when it is needed, and just in the amount needed".

There has however been a misconception of Lean thinking as the same thing as JIT. This is not so as a major advantage of Lean with respect to JIT is its customer focus. Lean focuses on how to obtain the Voice of the Customer, whereas Just-in-Time focuses mainly on the production process itself.

Elements of Lean thinking and JIT

There are four main elements of lean thinking and JIT namely: Customer based demand triggers, synchronized flow, enhanced improvement behavior and waste elimination. Of these four, three would be adequately analyzed to determine how the differences can be overcome to achieve maximum efficiency benefits.

Customer-based demand triggers

This focuses on Demand; this has to be met exactly when it is needed, not more than the quantity that is needed and exactly to the exact levels of quality.

JIT can easily help solve any need of a customer-based demand; however, there may be the limitation of slow dispatch which is the inability to fulfill customer orders on time. This limitation can be overcome by using TQM practices to improve the quality performance. Lean production can also be applied when demand is predictable and relatively steady. The implication is that the ability to implement lean principles is enhanced when an organization understands the nature and level of the demand on its resources.

Involvement Behavior

Lean approach stresses the importance of staff involvement. It emphasizes terms such as "respect for humans" and "enlightened vision" However; critics have claimed that lean does not give due consideration to workers involvement in the actual sense but prefers to define the role of the workers; hence the inhumanity and the unquestioning adherence of working under such a system (Kamata, 1983). JIT can help overcome this shortcoming of lean thinking through the involvement approach which is said to include higher quality products and services, less absenteeism, less turnover, better decision making and better problem solving; in short, greater organizational effectiveness. (Jin, H. et al., 1995)

However, smooth flow and the absence of inventory motivate individuals to help their colleagues improve the whole process rather than focusing on their own area of direct responsibility.