19 February 2012

Just In Time for Software

As a readers of this blog would know, I am a great admirer of the Toyota's quality process. I believe that the processes are applicable to software development and renovation.

What puzzled me for a long time was this: How can Just In Time (JIT) apply to software? Software production does not depend upon inventory. To make the second copy of a software product does not require another set of parts to be procured.

Then one day I was talking to my son Vijay, who is a supply chain guy, about Just In Time. He said, "Daddy, Just In Time is about showing up problems in the process".

That was it. I had been looking at the mechanism, not the purpose it was meant to serve.

A software process that exposes defects early is a JIT process.

Which of course begs the question: What is it that keeps defects hidden?

No comments: