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This introduction to the special issue celebrates the 30th anniversary of the publication of Sugimori et al. (Sugimori, Y., Kusunoki, K., Cho, F. and Uchikawa, S., Toyota production system and Kanban system: materialisation of just-in-time and respect-for-human system. Int. J. Prod. Res., 1977, 15(6), 553-564), the first extensive description of the Toyota Production System (TPS) to be published in English. After some initial discussion of the TPS, this article reviews three important issues regarding the context of the original paper: the West's growing interest in Japanese manufacturing; the preoccupation with information technology as the future of production; and, concerns with job design and motivation. The Sugimori paper is then analysed in these terms, focusing on the technical and human elements of the TPS. The article closes with an introduction to the other papers in the special issue. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Considering the frequent changes in market needs, real-time production management will produce huge additional value for manufacturers. As scheduling of shop floor operations is a local and partial decision in enterprises, the distributed local scheduling problems should be integrated at the enterprise level. Since decisions at the shop floor are very valuable, the next generation of production management will be performed as a decentralized system. This paper proposes architecture for scheduling-intensive production management. In the architecture, referred to as collaborative agents for production planning and scheduling, system integration is only achieved by communication among agents, i.e. a system is composed of loose connections between agents. As an implementation method, the paper introduces a standard specification for the communications among agents. The specification is recommended by PSLX, the Japan-based consortium for production planning and scheduling. The paper also shows some emerging business models on scheduling-intensive production management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper we define a line-cell conversion problem that has been reported as a new technical innovation in Japanese industry, and we construct a mathematical model to describe it. By numerical analysis of the model based on simulation experiments, we gain insight into line-cell conversion problems, such as (1) how many cells should be formatted, (2) how many workers should be assigned in each cell, and (3) how many workers should be rested on a shortened conveyor line when a conveyor assembly line is converted into cells, in order to optimise system performance, which is defined as the total throughput time and total labour power. Therefore, the model can be used as an evaluation tool in the case where (i) a company wants to change its production system (usually a belt conveyor line) to a new one (including cellular manufacturing), and (ii) a company wants to evaluate the performance of its converted system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sales surprise, the ratio of actual sales to forecasted sales for a year, is a key determinant of firms' inventory turnover. While the previous literature on empirical inventory management frequently uses Holt's double exponential smoothing method for obtaining future sales forecasts, this method suffers from measurement error. In contrast, we directly use the data on management forecasts publicised by listed companies in manufacturing and retail industries for the fiscal years 1997 through 2014, which are available in Japan, and evaluate the adequacy of the exponential smoothing sales forecasts. Our analysis reveals that sales surprise measured via both means positively relates to inventory turnover in the majority of industries, consistent with previous literature; however, the two variables imply discrepancies, particularly when economic conditions change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The 5S methodology is a very appropriate way to initiate and achieve the process of continuous improvement. This paper studies management practices in successful Japanese companies in order to determine what 5S principles are behind them. After visiting and conducting interviews at five different plants, a multi-case study analysis was developed to identify the key aspects of the success of the implementation of 5S in Japan. Although each of the companies studied is different, there are commonalities that provide for interesting learning. As a result, best managerial practices based on 5S principles are explained, and the most important principles associated with the success of the 5S method are described and discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper explores how technology intensive manufacturing firms operate to achieve rapid new product volume ramp-up capabilities within an international collaborative supply network. An exploratory multiple-case longitudinal research methodology was adopted involving three large Japanese Multinational Corporations and their respective international manufacturing supply networks comprising 19 factories in six countries. The findings suggest that a systematic ramp-up process is crucial to guide manufacturing operations in attaining a predictable initial production yield and rapid production volume ramp-up (time-to-volume). An empirically-based conceptual framework is then developed proposing linkages between critical elements within a manufacturing supply network and operational activities for a new product ramp-up. A structured ramp-up process is then proposed and pilot tested. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper concentrates on a task support system for design feature recognition performed as the first stage of a CAPP (computer-aided process planning system) in the Japanese apparel industry. The purpose of this study is to confirm that a fuzzy knowledge-based system incorporating two points of view (overall/global and localized) and the concept of fuzzy set can be efficiently applied to the recognition of the design features of freehand plane illustrations. It has been confirmed through the experimentation on a prototype that the method is effective. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Japanese motor industry is held up as an exemplar of world class manufacturing, setting the standards by which Western manufacturers measure themselves Just-in-time or lean manufacturing is receiving particular attention. This paper analyses stock turnover data on eight Japanese vehicle assemblers and 33 major components suppliers over the period 1975-1988, and that of 15 Western assemblers and 41 suppliers over a similar period. This analysis reveals that Japanese manufacturers are not uniformly 'lean' but exhibit a wide range of performance, with Toyota standing out as the best. Although improving, Western assembler performance falls far short of the Japanese, and there is no sign of the gap narrowing. The gap between Western suppliers and their Japanese counterparts actually widened during the 1980's. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

V-A-T analysis is a procedure which categorizes manufacturing operations based upon the nature of product flow via the structure of the routeings and bill of materials. The letters V, A, and T stand for the shape of the dominant product routeings and bill of material structures within a manufacturing facility. The purpose of this article is to examine the possibility of using V-A-T analysis as an aid in JIT implementation. Contained in this paper is: an examination of the evolution of JIT manufacturing in Japan, and its introduction to the United States; an analysis of the various techniques constituting JIT implementation issues regarding JIT; and an examination of V-A-T analysis as a toot for JIT implementation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Japanese just-in-time (JIT) production systems have been described extensively in books, professional magazines, and academic journals. These systems are so different from the production systems currently in use in North America and Europe that it appears that the only way to implement JIT is to dismantle the current production system on one day and begin a full JIT system the next day. In this paper we describe a three-step process for gradually phasing in JIT. The process begins with a two-bin inventory system, moves to a pull system with kanban, and then to a continuous flow production system. An illustrative example is presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the japanese automobile and electrial industries it is often necessary to consider the production ordering systems as multi-stage production inventory systems. Previous analyses of production ordering systems have left untouched the variation in the production ordering quantities and inventory at each stage. in spite of the fact that amplification phenomena of these variations are critical in a multi-stage production inventory system. Generally, we are able to classify the multi-stage production ordering systems into two types, i.e, the push-type and the pull-type. This paper discusses the following subjects concerning the push-type and multi-stage production ordering system based on forecasting: (1) the effects of demand fluctuations and forecasted errors on the amplification of production order variation and inventory variations in terms of a basic production ordering model, and (2) the same effect in a modified production ordering model which is able to decrease both the variations in the production ordering quantities and in the inventory at each stage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

People's social and economic desire are gradually becoming more versatile and fragmented. Industries should be developed in a such a way that these versatile human desires are brought into harmony with the organizational needs of production engineering. In this paper we report on the state of the desire and motivations of Japanese workers in 1974 and 1977 resulting from investigation and analysis using application method of multivariate analysis and give an example of new production systems in which workers are in harmony with organizational needs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Under the present labour conditions of Japanese industry, this study takes as its goal the development of new production systems which have a high rate of production efficiency through heightening awareness of human factors. Furthermore, this report presents now methodology and a number of models which analyse the relationship between motivation and those various factors of production systems which influence motivation. This paper discusses the findings of the investigations of typical Japanese enterprises using this method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The success of the Japanese in the global economy has elicited much interest from both practitioners and academicians. Popular theories suggest that the Japanese do not suffer from the short-term financial focus that plagues many U.S. manufacturers but tend to view decisions based on their long-term consequences. As a result, authors have suggested that the criteria used to assess employee performance in Japan tend to reflect this view. This paper reports the results from eight plants in Japan of five Japanese companies regarding the criteria used to assess employee performance. The types of criteria used at various levels in the management hierarchy as well as the specific criteria used are discussed. Previous studies reported that top level managers were most concerned with non-financial criteria while lower level managers were evaluated by physical type measurements. The results from this study partly contradict these findings in that top-level Japanese managers reported profitability as their most important criteria. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The implementation of 'kanban' inventory control systems, originally developed in Japan by Toyota, in flow-line manufacture has been widely described. It is generally asserted that kanbans are an efficient method of controlling flow-line assembly systems with consistent demands. This paper describes work carried out in association with Jaguar Cars Limited to develop a steady-state Markovian model for calculating the number of kanbans required to control single-stage processes feeding assembly lines. A Markovian model of an alternative just-in-time system, in which the off-line process is triggered by the passage of vehicle bodies past a point prior to the assembly area, is also described. The use of these models has shown that the use of a trigger system leads to lower inventory levels and greater pressure for improvement than a kanban system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]