Just-In-Time

The detailed study of issues in implementing Just-In-Time (JIT) in a manufacturing company, and on organizational issues related to supplier relationships.

From time to time, WATMIMS has conducted empirical studies of an organizational nature. This research takes advantage of the interdisciplinary focus of the Management Sciences Department, and relates important behavioural issues to the performance of firms in manufacturing or logistics.

Implementation of Just-In-Time production necessitates a decreased system inventory. This reduction of buffer stocks means that activities in various parts of the organization become more interdependent. Surveys and interviews in several manufacturing firms implied that this interdependence requires that the company be good at coping with variability. The expertise to solve these problems was suggested to be less likely present in a functionally-organized firm, but more likely in an organization that is product-based.

In the automotive industry and elsewhere, there are major programs for the certification, selection and evaluation of suppliers. These programs are clearly important to the auto manufacturers. But interviews with suppliers indicated that they felt the required documentation to be excessive; that the evaluation did not truly measure their performance; and that even a positive evaluation did not automatically imply additional business from the customer.