Heijunka is a production scheduling methodology aimed at minimizing waste by leveling the type and quantity of production over a fixed period.
Heijunka is a vital component of lean manufacturing that seeks to achieve a balanced workflow by distributing production evenly across time to avoid irregularities in workload. By standardizing output and reducing batch sizes, it helps in managing inventory levels and improving response times between manufacturing stages.
In an automotive assembly line, Heijunka is implemented to evenly distribute the assembly of 200 units of different car models each day.
This approach is used in large-scale automotive manufacturing facilities to reduce the aggregation of specific model assembly, thus stabilizing workforce load and supply chain requirements.
A Heijunka box is used in an electronics manufacturing plant to facilitate the daily production leveling of 500 circuit board units comprising multiple variants.
Heijunka boxes are frequently applied in electronics manufacturing environments to segregate and schedule varied production tasks over a specified period, minimizing lead time fluctuations.