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The Limits of Japanese Production Theory

Author

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  • Willard I. Zangwill

    (Graduate School of Business, University of Chicago, 1101 East 58th Street, Chicago, Illinois 60637)

Abstract

The concepts in “Japanese” production theory, also called zero inventory or just-in-time, have often improved productivity dramatically, sometimes by 100 percent or more. The theory's central principle is that inventory reflects underlying waste and that eliminating waste causes inventory to drop and productivity to rise. Costs are reduced, response time to customers is improved, and the ability to market in niches is enhanced. Ordinarily, as setup time or costs are reduced, inventory and production costs should decline. But in some circumstances, setup reduction can increase inventory and cost. An exploration of these contradictions may lead to a new and more powerful production theory that resolves these contradictions.

Suggested Citation

  • Willard I. Zangwill, 1992. "The Limits of Japanese Production Theory," Interfaces, INFORMS, vol. 22(5), pages 14-25, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:inm:orinte:v:22:y:1992:i:5:p:14-25
    DOI: 10.1287/inte.22.5.14
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Liman, Surya D. & Panwalkar, Shrikant S. & Thongmee, Sansern, 1996. "Determination of common due window location in a single machine scheduling problem," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 93(1), pages 68-74, August.
    2. Willard I. Zangwill & Paul B. Kantor, 1998. "Toward a Theory of Continuous Improvement and the Learning Curve," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 44(7), pages 910-920, July.
    3. Obermaier, Robert, 2012. "German inventory to sales ratios 1971–2005—An empirical analysis of business practice," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 135(2), pages 964-976.
    4. Awi Federgruen & Ziv Katalan, 1998. "Determining Production Schedules Under Base-Stock Policies in Single Facility Multi-Item Production Systems," Operations Research, INFORMS, vol. 46(6), pages 883-898, December.
    5. Samaddar, Subhashish & Hill, Craig A., 2007. "Controlling adverse effect on work in process inventory while reducing machine setup time," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 180(1), pages 249-261, July.
    6. Robert B. Cooper & Shun-Chen Niu & Mandyam M. Srinivasan, 1998. "When Does Forced Idle Time Improve Performance in Polling Models?," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 44(8), pages 1079-1086, August.
    7. Subhashish Samaddar & Thomas Whalen, 2008. "Improving Performance in Cyclic Production Systems by Using Forced Variable Idle Setup Time," Manufacturing & Service Operations Management, INFORMS, vol. 10(2), pages 173-180, August.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    inventory production: applications;

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