Supply chain management: A just-in-time perspective

Just-in-time (JIT) has been a widely recognized production philosophy alternative since the early 1980s. JIT principles and techniques have been widely adopted in many manufacturing firms. More recently, supply chain management has evolved as a discipline focusing on the design, planning and control of processes linking the initial raw materials to the ultimate consumption of the finished product. Supply chain efficiency is dependent on the efficiencies of the individual manufacturing organizations and the ability to connect along the supply chain. In this paper supply chain management from a JIT perspective is investigated, focusing on the linking mechanisms between successive companies and the collective efficiency of the supply chain.