Linkage between JIT practices and the activities that provide support for the use of JIT practices.

In an approximately 500-word response, address the following issues/questions:
• An area often neglected in the JIT literature is the linkage between JIT practices and the activities that provide support for the use of JIT practices. Even in the early JIT literature, there was an awareness of the vital contribution of a supportive infrastructure to the success of JIT. To enable JIT operation, lower levels of process variability than those found in traditional manufacturing environments are required. To achieve this, operating method standardisation is undertaken to reduce variability in work practices, thus allowing product and process quality standardisation and easier identification of improvement areas.
o Critically evaluate the lean approach. Consider whether lean was seen as a positive or negative impact on the organisation.
In formulating your Key Concept Exercise, consider the following questions:
• What factors affected JIT success? What are examples of the modifications, problems and benefits of Total JIT implementation?
• If you work for the organisation that applies lean thinking, how would you integrate your lean thinking to your supply chain?