Kanban implementation between a heavy manufacturing department and foundry suppliers

Implementation of JIT methods often begins in an assembly department with the introduction of kanban. Only when the implementation program begins in the fabrication areas supplying the assembly department do the most serious problems with JIT arise. The farther back in the supply chain JIT is implemented, the harder problems become, especially in the management of outside suppliers such as foundries where economics still requires the batching of jobs. Faced with supplying a tractor assembly line, department 500, a producer of heavy cast iron transmission cases using transfer lines and MRP, implemented kanban not only to supply the assembly area, but also back to their own supplying foundries. The results were positive and suggest a need for creativity in JIT implementation rather than a strict adherence to a cookbook approach.