Just in Time (business)

Just In Time (business)

Just in time (JIT) is a production strategy that strives to improve a business return on investment by reducing in-process inventory and associated carrying costs. To meet JIT objectives, the process relies on signals or Kanban (看板, Kanban?) between different points in the process, which tell production when to make the next part. Kanban are usually 'tickets' but can be simple visual signals, such as the presence or absence of a part on a shelf. Implemented correctly, JIT focuses on continuous improvement and can improve a manufacturing organization's return on investment, quality, and efficiency. To achieve continuous improvement key areas of focus could be flow, employee involvement and quality.

Quick notice that stock depletion requires personnel to order new stock is critical to the inventory reduction at the center of JIT, which saves warehouse space and costs, but JIT relies on other elements in the inventory chain: for instance, its effective application cannot be independent of other key components of a lean manufacturing system or it can "end up with the opposite of the desired result." In recent years manufacturers have continued to try to hone forecasting methods such as applying a trailing 13-week average as a better predictor for JIT planning; however, some research demonstrates that basing JIT on the presumption of stability is inherently flawed.