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Just-In-Time Operations (Updated 11/05/2012 11:31 AM)

Many regard Toyota as the master of JIT.  This older but still instructive (relative to JIT) Business Week article about Toyota provides some insight.  (Note the frequent references to the Georgetown facility)

Answer the following questions:

1) What is kaizen? 

2) Provide two examples of how Toyota has applied kaizen to its operations.

3) JIT philosophy is often operationalized by pursuing objectives known as the "Seven Zeros":

1. Zero lead times
2. Zero excess batch size
3. Zero order costs
4. Zero defects
5. Zero process breakdowns
6. Zero handling
7. Zero surging (i.e., reduce peaks and valleys in demand)

 Using info from the article, explain how Toyota expresses two of the Seven Zeros in its operations.

4) As Toyota implements new process innovations, how easy will it be for competitors to copy these advancements?  Explain.

Submit your answers in memo format, although you may answer these questions as they are numbered.

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