Just-in-time in the United States : culture and competitive manufacturing

Author

Wolfram Pabst von Ohain, New Jersey Institute of Technology

Document Type

Thesis

Date of Award

5-31-1987

Degree Name

Master of Science in Management Engineering - (M.S.)

Department

Industrial and Management Engineering

First Advisor

John Mihalasky

Abstract

Richard Schonberger, 'the' Guru of Just-in-Time' in the United States, wrote in the preface of his 1986 book World Class Manufacturing:

"...Japanese success is rot mature-based. Its basis is a quite different set of concepts, principles, policies, and techniques for managing and operating a manufacturing enterprise. All of it is easy to understand, not hand to accept (once known), eminently teachable and learnable, and not so difficult to apply.

If Just-in-Time is such 'a piece of cake' one would expect that most American companies would practice Just-in-Time. As commonly known, most American companies do not follow the philosophy of Just-in-Time. Why not?

This thesis will challenge Mr. Schonberger's assessment and investigate the reasons for the scarcity of Just-in-Time in the United States. The methodology applied was a detailed 14-page questionnaire sent to over 200 American practitioners of Just-in-Time. The survey focused on the difficulties experienced during preparation and implementation of Just-in-Time.

The theoretical research and the questionnaire analysis revealed that Just-in-Time is indeed partially culture-based, not easy to understand, hard to accept, and difficult to apply. Although the survey was taken from a stratified sample of already known Just-in-Time implementors, full scale implementation fell very short. In fact, most companies seemed to be engaged in'preparing for Just-in-Time.

The scarcity of implementation appeared not to be caused by the implementors' unwillingness to master different concepts and techniques, but was rather due to cultural and political difficulties of old habits and tradition, which grew out of the industrial and societal culture of the United States.

Recommended Citation

Pabst von Ohain, Wolfram, "Just-in-time in the United States : culture and competitive manufacturing" (1987). Theses. 3295.
https://digitalcommons.njit.edu/theses/3295