Difference between push and pull manufacturing system
Pull and Push System
In push system, when work is finished
at a workstation, the output is pushed to the next station; or, in the case of
the final operation, it is pushed on to the final inventory. In this system,
work is pushed on as it is completed, with no regard for whether the next
station is ready for the work or not. In this way, the WIP is unbalanced in all
operations throughout the shop floor (Roy, 2005, p. 174).
Whereas in pull system; each work
station pulls the output from the preceding station as it is needed. Output
from the final operation is pulled by customer demand or the master schedule.
Thus in pull system work is moved in response to demand from the next stage in
the process. The Kanban system is used to monitor the effective pull process.
Table 1 helps to differentiate Pull and Push system.