Abstract

This case is about the Just-in-Time (JIT) implementation at Harley-Davidson Motor Company (Harley-Davidson), a US-based motorcycle manufacturing company. JIT, a philosophy developed by Japanese companies, aims at reducing inventory and advocates the production of only what is needed when needed and no more. After World War II, Harley-Davidson faced fierce competition from Japanese automobile companies which were able to produce better quality motorcycles at comparatively lower cost. Harley-Davidson visited some of the Japanese companies and found that Japanese companies were following three main practices: employee involvement, use of statistical process control, and JIT. The company soon realized that in order to beat Japanese competition, it had to implement these practices as well. The company successfully implemented JIT practices and reaped several benefits. After spectacular growth in the 1990s and the early 2000s, Harley-Davidson again faced hard times from 2007. The case also looks at the challenges faced by the company in the latter part of the first decade of the new millennium, and how it was trying to focus on ‘continuous improvement' in a bid to bring itself back into profits.

Learning Objectives

The case is structured to achieve the following Learning Objectives:

• To understand Just-in-time philosophy and its importance in reducing overall production cost and enhancing product quality.
• To understand how the JIT philosophy requires the alignment of operational strategies to achieve the goal.
• To understand the important role of having a stable supplier network for achieving JIT.
• To understand that besides the use of statistical techniques in achieving JIT, employees' involvement is equally important.
• To discuss the challenges faced by Harley-Davidson since 2007.

Keywords

Operations Management, Just in Time (JIT), Supplier Network, Operational Strategies, Statistical Process Control, Employee Involvement, Statistical Operator Control, Inventory Management, Material As Needed (MAN), Continuous Improvement, Supply Chain, Low Cost manufacturing, Harley Davidson, Quality, Japanese Manufacturing