The Just-In -Time Technique in Construction (JIT Delivery)
In construction, moving materials and storing inventory is a frequent day-to-day operation, and then there’s inventory waste. Inventory waste has become prevalent and a recurring issue, commonly due to excessive stockpiling of materials due to over-ordering and over-estimating. As a result, it leads to pointless use of construction supplies and materials, translating an entire host of wasted time, effort, and resources.
Related article: Construction Inventory Management: The Just In Time Method
Just-In-Time or JIT delivery in construction is an inventory management strategy purposely designed to diminish waste by simply receiving goods only as they (are necessary) for production processes.” While JIT delivery is often associated with combating inventory waste issues, it is amicably applicable to removing D.O.W.N.T.I.M.E and all other eight wastes of lean construction. All proponents of the lean methodology have adapted JIT delivery to alleviate such issues.
Read further to learn more about JIT delivery and how it can contribute to your business.
What is Exactly JIT Delivery?
The Just-in-Time concept has been around ever since the 1970s and is commonly debated in reference to inventory. It’s a strategy that construction companies employ to decrease waste and improve efficiency by receiving goods during production when it’s only necessary. This particular method requires producers to predict demand precisely. As with several factory-based lean manufacturing philosophies, JIT delivery is increasingly becoming integrated into lean construction methodologies.
In a construction scheduling perspective, JIT requires balance and alignment between project items that are widely considered “long head” as well as those that are more widely and readily available. As a result, specialized personnel is required to make sure that all construction materials and supplies are present and available when needed. This only means lead times should turn into a process by which a system is created where materials and resources are pulled rather than pushed through.
With proper implementation, the Just-in-Time method will diminish inventory waste and promote project unity, alignment, and precaution, helping to combat all of the eight wastes of lean construction, as shown by the D.O.W.N.T.I.M.E abbreviation below.
· Defects
· Overproduction
· Waiting
· Non-Utilized Resources/Talent
· Transportation
· Inventory Excess
· Motion Excess
· Extra Processing
By the end, the implementation of JIT delivery will result in more satisfied and happy customers, better-off employees, and smoother construction operations across the board.
The JIT Delivery Process and Stages
Organizations and companies may vary in how they are going to implement JIT in their work environment. In construction, general steps are to be followed the same way. The steps or processes below show how the phase of continuous improvement works, particularly in JIT delivery.
1. Design. The JIT process starts with a review of the essential building blocks. Some plans are put into the right place to remove disruption, reduce waste and establish a more flexible system for your construction company.
2. Manage. TQM review (Total Quality Management) ensures that there’s a consistent improvement throughout the entire construction process. It’s a management review that defines your crew’s main roles and responsibilities, where statistical quality control is measured. It also stabilizes project schedules and checks out capacity schedules, load and levels.
3. Pull. It’s a way of educating your construction team on material usage and withdrawal methods. Orienting them about certain policies and rules is crucial. Using the best construction scheduling software like Pro Crew Schedule, you can efficiently communicate to your team, sharing essential notices and updates.
4. Build. Vendor or supplier relationships are critical to the success of JIT. You have to review the supplier and vendor lists. You can choose to settle on preferred suppliers, discuss lead times, negotiate contracts, and talk over-usage metrics, measures and delivery expectations.
Ensure to learn how to make the most of it in the supply chain.
5. Fine-tune. Identify inventory needs, controls, and policies and minimize inventory movement using online inventory software like Pro Crew Schedule.
6. Establish. Inform your crew about the capabilities and skills they need to complete the work — conduct team education as well as empowerment sessions to educate them further.
7. Refine. Reduce the number of steps and parts in production by standardizing, refining and reviewing the entire process.
8. Review. Define and execute quality metrics and measures and then conduct a root cause analysis of all issues. Highlight improvements and make sure to use construction inventory software to enhance each aspect of JIT.
You can adopt JIT delivery management as a cutting-edge strategy for your construction business. When implemented correctly, JIT can ultimately create value for your business compare to traditional methods. The latter requires more extensive inventories which aren’t simplified. JIT delivery offers various benefits to your business, including waste reduction, cash flow improvement, increased flexibility, human resource optimization and team empowerment.
The Advantages of JIT Delivery in Inventory Management
The Just-in-Time delivery and inventory method have long defined the construction trade. JIT has proven to create reliance on quick materials and supplies at any given stage of work. JIT can also boost your company’s Return of Investment (ROI) by increasing efficiency, lowering inventory costs, and decreasing waste.
· Waste reduction — the strategy diminishes excess and over-ordering of all kinds.
· Reduce dead stock and obsolete inventory — lower inventory levels tremendously reduce inventory risk to breakdown and going unsold.
· Improve efficiency — JIT removes the costs that usually come with extra raw supplies and materials, unnecessary inventory and item storage.
· Minimal inventory obsolescence — the high inventory turnover rate usually keeps items and stock from sitting in your warehouse far too long, becoming obsolete. With JIT, the inventory turnover rate gets lower.
· Lessen raw materials by hand — receiving deliveries in the smallest quantities, sometimes several times each day virtually removes raw materials inventories.
· Local sourcing — when your suppliers are located near the company’s production facility, the abridged distance contributes to the timely deliveries. Reliable, on-time delivery of supplies and items reduces the need for safety stock.
· Greater productivity — JIT improves overall productivity by minimizing the resources and time involved in the process.
· Lower costs — receiving supplies on an as-necessary basis minimizes inventory costs.
· Improve quality — a flexible workforce can focus on making use of the products, especially with the lower defect rates. Hence, better outcomes improve your customer satisfaction and minimize the cash outlay for production.
· Lessen work-in-progress items — few stocks moving on the warehouse allow your team to focus more on what matters.
· Greater flexibility — fewer processes and shorter turnaround times make your company more agile.
· Reduce rework — practicing consistent enhancements can further eliminate unnecessary steps.
· Less need for extra labor — JIT provides accurate forecasting. Accurate forecasting only means extra help is seldom needed.
· Reduce space requirements — if your company has less inventory and has better workflows, a larger space isn’t required any longer.
· Less damage- and since minimal inventory is on-hand, any incidents that are storage-related slowly decline.
· Certified quality — your suppliers guarantee item quality in advance. Hence, deliveries go straight on-site instead of being held in receiving at the warehouse to wait on inspection.
To support the goals above, you can invest in new software solutions that will link your crew to coordinate the usage of construction materials and parts. Pro Crew Software is a project management software that has a built-in inventory feature designed to give you more accurate reports, streamline overall costs, and help you minimize possible risks.
Improve and Grow Your Construction Business with Inventory Management Software
Mismanaged inventory is one of the reasons why your construction business isn’t able to grow and thrive. You have to focus on managing your inventory in real-time because maintaining it is indeed very challenging, particularly if you’re still utilizing the conventional way. This is already 2021 and everybody is now streamlining and switching to more advanced software tools!
Insight in your stock levels at any given circumstances is vital to your company’s success. This is why advanced software solutions and value-focused inventory methods like JIT are crucial for your business. If you wanted to take your inventory to the next level, choose Pro Crew Schedule!
This software solution saves you from the hassle of adjusting stock levels manually and allows you to manage your inventory much easier, saving you time, money, and, quite frankly, sanity. To help you understand whether your construction business could benefit from Pro Crew Schedule, we’ve summarized some other advantages below:
· A central hub
· Real-time team collaboration
· Increasing productivity for your team
· Consistent communication
· Effective task delegation
· Inventory management in construction
· Time-tracking feature and monitoring
· Accessible anytime and anywhere
· Cloud-based storage and user friendly
Key Takeaways
With some reports indicating that almost 90% of the world’s construction projects run over-scheduled and over-budget, it becomes apparent that an overhaul is necessary for the execution, mindset, and planning of the construction management. The Just-in-Time delivery method can efficiently assist with this overhaul and is a powerful tool for enhancing construction productivity. Any construction companies that fully understand their project needs can meet expectations within budget and time are far ahead of the industry curve.
