Kaizen Through Heijunka Production (Leveled Production)

Heijunka production, a core element of Toyota Motor Company's well-known Just-in-Time production methodology, was developed to deliver vehicle orders in the shortest lead time, with minimum inventory and maximum production efficiency. It achieves this by averaging (“leveling out”) production quantity and model. Adaptable to any production environment, the Heijunka production is an effective tool for industries with low-mix/low-volume production systems. In our case study, a manufacturer of interior subassembly items for commercial jets implemented Heijunka production and achieved significant improvement in inter-process inventory, lead time and productivity. Most notably, inter-process inventory was reduced to 20% in just five years.