‘Just-in-Time’

Abstract

The last two decades have seen the popularizing of an old distribution strategy referred to as “just-in-time” or alternatively as “kan ban.” Kan ban means signboard in Japanese, and it was so named because suppliers to a Japanese auto manufacturer were instructed to place inbound materials beneath posted signs which indicated the appropriate part number. Like many popular business developments, just-in-time or JIT is a product of both fact and myth.