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The Toyota Sewing System: The Modular Manufacturing System

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Modular production system
The modular production system was first execute at company Toyota in 1978 as part of Just-in-Time and was known in the 1980s in the West as the Toyota Sewing System (TSS). The modular production system works on the principle of pull-type production systems, where the job order comes from the last step to previous steps (Subiron & Rosado 1995). Since the amount of work in process is very low, smooth working when no inventory is possible. Some of the definitions of this production system are given below:
 An organized group of individuals working together in a co-operative manner to accomplish a common purpose.
 A group of people who working together to accomplish individual goals effectively and efficiently while …show more content…

The basic principle is alike among these production systems, although the industry and execution may differ. The number of operators on a team normally varies between 4 and 15, depending upon the product mix. A general rule of thumb is to find out the average number of processes or operations necessary for a particular style being produced and divide by three. Team members are cross-trained and exchangeable among tasks within the group in this type of …show more content…

The team is accountable for keeping a smooth work flow, meeting production goals and maintaining a required quality.
16.4.2 Features of modular production system
• Supervision: Freed to work with the operators.
• Labour: Of necessity the operators must be highly skilled in the operation of all the different machines in one workstation.
• Quality: In-process inspection stations are built into the line and the inspector is able to return faulty work via the system to the operator concerned.
• Productivity: This is very high because the operator handles the garment once only for a number of operations, instead of once for each operation.
• Throughput time: As there are so few garments on the line throughput time is extremely short, which is the objective of this system.
• Layout: A typical unit would have eight work stations arranges around the transport system.
16.4.3 Advantages of a Modular Garment Production

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