In business today, the threat of competition has become devastating to many established organizations. The balance and optimization of cost, schedule, and quality in part defines the struggle of many competitive organizations. Entire organizations are being aligned and focused on cost, growth, customer service and profitability even if they are the market leader.
Maintaining the status quo can be fatal. Of course Just-in-Time (JIT) Manufacturing is not all you need to remain competitive, but without its innovative techniques one will be at a strong disadvantage.
When one thinks about what drives any reaction, informational input comes to mind. Information in the form of the human five senses stimulates all reactions by humans. The same can be said for manufacturing. Information causes a manufacturing reaction. If this information is used properly, and supported with other JIT techniques, significant cost can be reduced.
This article will focus on information processes related to planning, and the pull signal process that actually drives actions.