Introduction to Operations and Supply Chain Management, 4e (Bozarth/Handfield)
Chapter 13 JIT/Lean Production
Learning Objective 13-1
1) The just-in-time philosophy applies only to the production floor of a manufacturing company.
2) The term just-in-time production is used synonymously with the term Lean production.
3) Companies employing the Lean philosophy use only Kanban as a production control method.
4) Lean thinking has received considerable attention in the last decade, but tools such as kanbans
cannot be used in all production environments.
5) Unnecessary transportation is waste according to the Lean philosophy.
6) The ability of a process to produce quality output is unknown and the time to ship the output
to a customer is highly variable. The combination of these two factors will lead to the waste of
waiting.
7) The newest form of waste is underutilizing employees.
8) Since a Lean manufacturer has very little inventory, it is vital that all incoming parts receive a
thorough inspection.
9) JIT or Lean can be used in:
A) repetitive production.
B) job shop production.
C) many service industries.
D) All of these settings are appropriate for JIT.
10) Which of the following is NOT an element of Lean production?
A) to have only the required inventory when needed
B) to increase queue lengths
C) to improve quality to zero defects
D) to reduce setup times
11) Inflexible or unreliable processes cause organizations to produce goods before they are
required; this is called:
A) excess motion.
B) inappropriate processes.
C) overproduction.
D) defects.
12) Scrap or rework are examples of the lean waste recognized as:
A) defects.
B) inappropriate processing.
C) unnecessary motion.
D) waiting.
13) The delivery lead time was highly variable as was the quality of the product being shipped.
These two factors combined to contribute to the waste of:
A) unnecessary transportation.
B) unnecessary inventory.
C) unnecessary motion.
D) waiting.
14) The receiving department accepts a shipment, confirms it matches the purchase order, and
moves it to an area they call “deep storage.” As the time approaches for the shipment to be used,
they move it from deep storage to the week’s holding pen, and on the day of use, it is transferred
to the line near where it will fall into the product stream. When the worker needs it, she goes to
where it is stored and brings it to her work station. This illustrates the waste of:
A) unnecessary inventory.
B) overproduction.
C) unnecessary transportation.
D) underutilization of employees.
15) The MBA recruiter had worked in one of several different positions at the university; student
advisor, adjunct professor, even MBA director at a previous employer. Her sole responsibility as
recruiter was attending MBA and job fairs in the area to talk to prospective students about the
possibility of continuing their education. This illustrates the waste of:
A) unnecessary inventory.
B) overproduction.
C) unnecessary transportation.
D) underutilization of employees.
16) Just-in-time production is also referred to as ________.
17) Any activity that does not add value to the good or service in the eyes of the consumer is
________.
18) Provide a definition by description of the Lean philosophy. Where can Lean be deployed?
19) Describe any five of the wastes and their causes identified by the lean philosophy.
Learning Objective 13-2
1) A reduction in inventory levels forces a company to address poor manufacturing practices.
2) In the water and rocks analogy for lean:
A) water represents problems.
B) water represents inventory.
C) rocks represent inventory.
D) water wears away rocks gradually just like continuous improvement programs improve
quality.
3) In the lean perspective on inventory, often when a process is running smoothly:
A) it is likely that workers are underutilized.
B) it is likely that there is too little inventory in the system.
C) it is likely that there is too much inventory in the system.
D) it is likely that workers are overutilized.
4) A company has successfully implemented lean practices in their three station process. The
stations are, in order, Station A, Station B, and Station C and product moves from A to B to C
smoothly. One day, the equipment at Station B experiences catastrophic failure. What happens
and what is the appropriate response for a lean-thinking company?
A) Continue producing at Station C and restore capacity at Station B.
B) Continue producing at Station A and restore capacity at Station B.
C) Continue producing at Station A and C and restore capacity at Station B.
D) Everything stops and attention is focused on restoring capacity at Station B.
5) The analogy of rocks in a river is often used when discussing Lean principles. In the analogy,
the rocks represent ________ while the water represents ________.
6) What is the Lean perspective on inventory?
1) One recent development in Lean thinking is the combination of Lean and Six Sigma into Lean
Six Sigma, which combines the rigor of statistical analysis and DMAIC approach with Lean’s
focus on waste reduction.
2) Lean supply chain management focuses on eliminating waste:
A) in a firm’s sourcing and logistics activities.
B) within a firm’s internal operations.
C) in flows of information and money among supply chain partners.
D) in all of the above areas.
3) ________ combines the focus on waste reduction with the discipline of define, measure,
analyze, improve, and control.
4) ________ could result in workers from one company working to solve production issues for a
company from which they purchase components.
5) Recent developments in Lean thinking have combined these principles with Six Sigma and
with supply chain management. Pick either one of these programs and describe its elements.
Then provide an example from current business news of an operation or supply chain that has
embraced these principles.
Learning Objective 13-4
1) A two-card kanban system is a planning tool that links production and movement of units at
two work centers.
2) The cards employed in a two-card kanban system are the production card and the move card.
3) A pull system is a production system in which actual downstream demand sets off a chain of
events that pull material through various steps in the production process.
4) The forecast for next month is 200 units so the manufacturer gathers materials for this
anticipated level of production activity. This is an example of pull production.
5) The greater the demand, the more kanbans are needed.
6) An increase in the safety factor results in an increase in the amount of inventory in a kanban
system.
7) In the kanban formula, the letter T represents the time it takes to empty a box of parts through
building product.
8) For a kanban system to work properly, demand rates must be relatively stable, and
interruptions must be minimized.
9) Some companies have found it beneficial to combine the planning capabilities of kanban with
the control capabilities of MRP.
10) A kanban can be:
A) a container.
B) a card.
C) a visual cue.
D) All of these can be kanbans.