An official website of the United States government
Here’s how you know
Official websites use .gov
A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States.
Secure .gov websites use HTTPS
A lock (
) or https:// means you’ve safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.
Inventory and Flow Time in the US Manufacturing Industry
Published
Author(s)
Douglas Thomas, Anand M. Kandaswamy
Abstract
Advancements in the efficient use of inputs, such as land and labor, have been a key driver of per capita income growth throughout history. One method for identifying potential efficiency improvements is lean manufacturing or lean production, a set of tools to assist in the identification and elimination of waste. Lean classifies waste into seven categories: overproduction, transportation, rework/defects, over-processing, motion, inventory, and waiting. Utilizing economic data, one can track the inventory and transportation time along with the flow time (i.e., the amount of time a unit spends in process), which reveals some of the categories of waste. This report identifies and reviews data on manufacturing inventory and flow time along with data on inter-industry interactions. It then develops a method for tracking the flow time of US manufactured products. This method is illustrated for automotive and aircraft manufacturing.
Thomas, D.
and Kandaswamy, A.
(2015),
Inventory and Flow Time in the US Manufacturing Industry, Technical Note (NIST TN), National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, MD, [online], https://doi.org/10.6028/NIST.TN.1890
(Accessed September 9, 2024)