The factory I used to work in was fined something like 10 grand per hour for every hour our GM recipient plant was down due to a lack of parts.
In a perfect world it wouldn’t happen but things happen, machines break and suppliers don’t supply.
**but things happen, machines break and suppliers don’t supply.**
and Trucks break down, and at $5.00+/gallon diesel, seeing lot of trucks being PARKED with FOR SALE signs in them. That’s not going to help the JIT either.
And unions never ever strike...
I worked 3 years in a captive job shop supplying parts for Ford and we delivered a few over 50,000 McPherson struts each week split between two different assembly plants. We never missed a shipment in the time I was there.
This all reminds me of an old story told about Henry Ford.
In the early days, the contract with the supplier of the headlights to the Model-A detailed not only the specifications for the headlights but also the packaging in which they were to be delivered.
There were to be two lights per box; the boxes were to built of oak slats; the boxes were to be of certain dimensions, and the headlights should be packed with a certain kind of straw.
The supplier wanted the business, and so they complied with Ford’s demands.
Later they discovered that the boxes they shipped the headlights in were being knocked apart to make the floor boards and the straw that was used for packing material was being used to stuff the seats.
“The factory I used to work in was fined something like 10 grand per hour for every hour our GM recipient plant was down due to a lack of parts.”
I worked in the same environment. The trick was that GM,Ford, etc. could discover a flaw or request a design change on a dime. Too much inventory meant you were possibly sitting on garbage. Lots of wasted money.