Just in Time Manufacturing, or JIT, is a manufacturing methodology that calls for the production of what a customer wants, when they want it, in the quantities requested, delivered to where they want. There are no parts made to a forecast (a guess!), no huge batches of parts going into inventory. Just what you want, when you want it.
While many manufacturers shy away from engaging in JIT manufacturing practices, Breiner Innovative embraces it. We prefer to offer our clients seeking rubber, foam, sponge or silicone cutting solutions exactly what they want in a way that works best for them. Breiner has experienced tremendous growth recently with customers seeking the benefits of Just in Time manufacturing in the form of reduced inventory and timely deliveries. These companies value the big picture of true life-cycle costs of their parts and appreciate how well we help with their inventory and time-critical needs.
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Using JIT has great benefits for companies that deploy it. These benefits include:
Additional Space
JIT manufacturing allows for the reduction of stock inventory which can vastly reduce the floor space necessary to store product that may not be used for weeks or months.
This newly released floor space can be deployed for any number of more productive uses, such as room for new equipment benefiting your customers. With less inventory space required, you can move your processes closer together, saving travel time between processes. Smaller batches of inventory become easier to management in the material handling sense as well. You could remove the need for additional space or a warehouse all together.
As an example, one of our long-time customers was acquired by a larger corporation and tasked with reducing their warehousing space by 50%. JIT was key in accomplishing this goal, allowing the customer to drastically reduce the parts they were storing in inventory. Breiner Innovative played a large part in making this happen by being a partner that embraces the small run, high mix production style that goes hand in hand with JIT.
Reduce Inventory Costs
Inventory costs money. Inventory costs resources. You have to move it around, keep track of it, pay for it and pay taxes on it! The longer it sits the more chance it goes obsolete, replaced by the latest revision. It takes up space (see above!) and that space costs money.
JIT addresses all these issues. With JIT you order small batches, more frequently. This improves your cash flow as the time between paying for the inventory and the inventory being turned into cash is shortened. Smaller batches of inventory take up less space. They are easier to move around. Smaller batches allow easier revision changes as you don’t have to ‘burn off’ last year’s model to clear your stock. The bottom line is JIT gives you more flexibility with your cash.
A potential customer needed a supplier willing to provide small weekly deliveries rather buying parts in lots of 100 or 250 pieces at a time. These bigger batches would sit on shelf for a period of time, consuming space, resources and cash. To Breiner, this was not a problem, in fact, it was something we love to do. Our new customer settled on a weekly shipment, with releases for small lot sizes (8 pieces here, 16 pieces there) for a variety of parts. They order for what they will need for the next week of production and no more. This all aided by the fact that with Breiner, we don’t make our customers jump thru hoops by creating artificial order minimum requirements, either by dollars or quantity. How much you need, when you need it.
Embrace the JIT
JIT manufactures, like Breiner, embrace speedy, if not same-day production of orders. We work with a variety of customers that do repair work, requiring custom gaskets at the spur of the moment. The way we’ve designed our production system, with the customer needs in mind, handles these requirements as a matter of course. We are able to go from request to fabricated part in minutes, if asked. And we do exactly that, everyday.
If you’re looking to reduce your overhead, to save space and to save money while maintaining delivery and customer service to your customers, it may be time find a manufacturing partner who embraces JIT.
