A corporation is considering implementation of a JIT inventory system. The company's industrial engineer recently conducted a study to determine the average numberof days spent in each activity of the production process. The following table summarizes the findings:
Production Activity Number ofdays
Inspectingmaterials........................................... 3
Storing materials...............................................17
Moving materials into production........................ 3
Setting up production equipment....................... 2
Cutting materials.............................................6
bending materials............................................ 5
Assembing finished products............................ 9
Painting finished products................................ 5
a) Which of the above activities might be reduced or eliminated if the company implemented a JIT system?
b) What ethical issues might be related to eliminating some ofthe non-value added activites?