Shrinking product life cycle(Cycle time reduction)
In the past, product life cycles were comparatively longer and when a product was introduced it would stay in the market for longer periods of time. Now with the fast expansion of technology the average product life cycle has become short and almost every product will be replaced by a new product in a short time span (Stevenson, 2005). As a result companies are forced to introduce rapid development of new products with encouraging innovation. This provides a new challenge and requires redesigning of operations making the process faster (Smith, 1992).
The approach Toyota took was the JIT method of planning and control and an operations philosophy that aims to meet demand instantaneously with perfect quality and no waste (Slack et al, 2007). This philosophy replaces the past methods (non-technical) of mass production where there were batches of produced goods sold in masses. This recent trend in operations management has shifted to Just in Time production where goods are produced upon the receipt of an order with customizations made by the customer. Cycle time reduction is based upon the idea of eliminating waste; waste is defined as anything that does not add value to the product from the customer’s perspective. This model developed by Toyota results if reduction of cycle time of turning machine, broaching, drilling and chamfering, shaping and internal shaping and de-burring and burring machine. At the same time reductions in tool search time and material movements have also been achieved.
Supply- Chain Management
Supply Chain partners are required to be more in tune with the needs of the end users, because of shorter product life cycles, demanding customers, fast changes in technology, material, and processes. As a result the suppliers can contribute unique expertise therefore operations managers are outsourcing and building long-term partnerships with critical players in the supply chain (Christopher,...