Modelling and simulation of just-in-time flexible systems

The increasing worldwide competition requires economical manufacture, high quality and short delivery time. The Just-In-time (JIT) philosophy of manufacturing is increasingly being considered by manufacturing organizations, as a response to the increased pressure to supply high quality products with short delivery times and at low cost. A very simple shop floor control system that was developed by Toyota in the 1970s specifically for their Just-In-Time assembly plant, has received considerable attention in the Western World, and is known as the 'kanban' system (literally translated as 'card' system). Japan's success has prompted many scholars and practitioners, to turn their attention to Japanese management practices. This article is to address the modelling, simulation and implementation issues of Just-In-Time in flexible manufacturing environments. Priority nets are used for modelling and analysis of the kanban system. A large number of simulation runs are conducted/presented to probe the behaviour of the system, with respect to different parameter changes. © 1997 Indian Academy of Sciences.