Business

Read the passage and answer the questions.

The just in Time Method

Working as a manager at the Toyota Motor Company in the 1950s, mechanical engineer
Taiichi Ohno was the head of a machine shop that produced parts used on Toyota’s vehicle
Assembly lines. Ohno felt the need to develop a more cost- efficient way to store inventory
before the parts used on Toyota automobiles. By meeting these goals, Mr. Ohno
transformers the way that Toyota and other companies inventoried their products with his
just in time (JIT) method. During the 1950s, companies like Toyota retained several large
warehouses as space where their inventory could be stored before it was needed on the
assembly line. Parts that were used to build their products sat on a shelf in the warehouse
for months at a time before being sent to the production area. If a part had a defect, it was
not discovered until the parts were at the assembly line ready to be used. Parts were
produced in mass numbers on large machines, and it was possible that an entire shipment
might consist of defective parts. As the assembly line worked on a rigid schedule, there
there was no time to look for defects or correct them. As a result, the company would often
not notice that it had defective parts until after the products Were already assembled. To fix
these defective products, companies sometimes had to disassemble the entire finished unit,
resulting in huge amounts of lost time and money for the company.

Taiichi Ohno believed that the company could avoid these defects by introducing parts to
the desemboto process as they were needed instead of letting them remain in storage for
months. Not only would this make it easier to spot defects, but it would also save the
company money on storage space. Mr. Ohno developed a system that was able to reduce
component assembly times from hours to minutes. In doing so, he the. Sent only the parts
that were needed at the Assembly line out in a small, wheeled cart called a kanban. Since
employees were now working with one part at time, they were able to recognize any
defective parts more easily. If a defect or problem was discovered, the workers were taught
to recognize it and repair it quickly, rather than using several defective parts before
realizing it. Production workers used the parts and sent the cart back empty. This alerted
others that more parts were needed on the production floor. Another full cart would then be
sent out just in time for assembly. The system, dubbed the kanban system, saved the
company a huge amount of time and money in the long run. Eventually, Ohno was able to
get rid of the werehouses in which parts had previously been stored. As intended, his
system identified defects much more quickly and improved the quality of the parts that
were produced.

The process was formally called the just in time method and led to widespread changes in
the production methods of industries across the world. Taiichi Ohno revolutionized product
inventories with his innovative JIT method. Not only did Toyota benefit other companies
adopted similar practices as well. Ohno’s vision transformed the way products were made
in the industries.

Assembly line a system for making products in which every worker or machine is
responsible for checking or adding a specific part

1. The author discusses the storage of products in the Toyota warehouses in order to

(A) Define the principles behind the just in Time method

(B) Criticize the company´s methods of production
(C) Highlight the problems of storing inventory
(D) Illustrate the importance of finding defective parts

2. According to paragraph 2, which of the following is true of the following is true of the assembly li

(A) It was a careless and sluggish environment.

(B) The workers adhered to a precise timetable.
(C) It was based on the part production schedule.
(D) Defects forced employees to work long hours.

3. The author of the passage implies that

(A) Companies lost money even after adopting the JIT method
(B) Other car companies made vehicles that were defective
(C) The machines used to produce parts were typically unreliable
(D) Workers who noticed defective parts reported them to the manager

4. According to the passage, which of the following is true of automotive parts?

(A) They were used all at once before the JIT system.
(B) They were stored in the production areas ready to be used.
(C) They were often used after used after the defect was discovered.
(D) They were usually defective before they hit the assembly line.

5. The author´s description of the Toyota Motor Company mentions all of the following EXCEPT:

(A) Prior to the JIT method, parts with defects were used on the assembly line.
(B) The warehouses used to stockpile vehicle parts were expensive.
(C) Workers learned to recognize defects more quickly with the JIT method.
(D) The JIT method did not result in improvements right away.

6. Why does the author mention the kanban?

(A) to contrast its use with previous methods of transport

 (B) to illustrate a successful element of Ohno´s method
(C) To give an example of how technology replaces people
(D) To explain how employees found defective parts
7. Which of the following can be inferred from paragraph 3 about companies that used the JIT metho

(A) The JIT method was not as efficient as more recent assembly systems.
(B) Companies using the JIT method valued quality of products over speed.
(C) Workers no longer had to worry about defective parts.
(D) The JIT method caused the production of final products to be faster.

8. According to the passage, which of the following is NOT true of the Just in Time method?

(A) It was developed by Mr. Ohno to save Toyota money.

(B) It worked only for the Toyota Motor Company.
(C) It resulted in better quality parts for Toyota.
(D) It allowed workers to spot defective parts easily.