Produce necessary units in the necessary quantities at the necessary times. This is impossible to do if machine setups take several hours to accomplish. Minimize Set-up Time Aim for less than 10 minute setup times for every machine in their factory. Eliminate Waste Anything other than the minimum amount of plant, equipment, materials and workers which are absolutely essential to the production process. Overproduction is the greatest waste because excess inventory must be stored and we have used raw materials that could be better used in products that have higher demand.
Accounts view inventory as an asset.
Manufacturing should view inventory as a liability. When producing goods only when needed, and using goods with minimal inspection, any production problems become everyone's problem. Quality control is each employee's responsibility. Source of quality is at the operation level, anyone who adds value to the product. The way to reduce defects is to re-engineer the process Every Employee should learn Statistical Process Control techniques as a tool to determine whether their mistakes are process oriented or just random variations.