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JIT Meaning – Just in Time Inventory, Manufacturing & Term Origins

JIT Meaning – Just in Time Inventory and Manufacturing

JIT MeaningJIT Meaning: JIT or just-in-time commonly refers to an inventory and manufacturing strategy. It aligns raw-material orders from suppliers directly with production schedules and usage. Companies employ this inventory and manufacturing strategy to increase efficiency and decrease waste.  Receiving goods only as they are needed for the production process reduces inventory costs. However, this method requires great discipline and producers to forecast demand very accurately.

Just-in-time (JIT) manufacturing reduces inventory while increasing efficiency. These techniques reduce inventory costs allowing producers to obtain supplies as required for production rather than paying storage fees. If an order is canceled or not completed, manufacturers are not left with unsold inventory. For example, a vehicle assembly line that runs with minimal inventory levels.  However, it depends on its supply chain to provide the components required to produce automobiles exactly when needed. As a result, the manufacturer orders the components needed to assemble the automobiles only after receiving an order. Companies must have consistent output and a high-quality workforce.  Further, it requires error-free plant equipment, and dependable suppliers for JIT manufacturing to flourish.

JIT Meaning for Inventory Management

JIT means just in time for inventory management.  A just-in-time strategy demands tight collaboration with suppliers.  The goal is to ensure that raw materials arrive when manufacturing is planned to begin, but no earlier. Best practice requires having as little inventory on hand as possible to fulfill demand. JIT inventory guarantees that there is adequate stock to manufacture just what is required when it is required. The objective is to accomplish high volume production while keeping little inventory on hand to avoid waste.  JIT inventory strategies focus on timing and quality rather than the lowest price.  Therefore, JIT necessitates long-term partnerships with dependable suppliers.

JIT inventory solutions provide a number of benefits over conventional inventory methods. Because production runs are short, producers may swiftly transition from one product to another. This strategy also saves money by reducing the requirement for warehouse space. Companies also spend less money on raw materials since they just purchase what they need to manufacture the requested items.

The disadvantages of JIT inventory systems include potential supply chain disruptions. If a raw-materials supplier has a failure and is unable to deliver the items on time, the whole manufacturing line may be halted. A sudden and unexpected order for items may cause the delivery of completed products to end customers to be delayed.

JIT Meaning for Manufacturing

In manufacturing, a company’s speed to market and production costs can make or ruin it. Just In Time Manufacturing is a workflow approach that aims to reduce flow times inside production systems.  At the same time, reducing reaction times from suppliers and consumers. JIT manufacturing enables businesses to manage unpredictability in their operations, enhance production, while decreasing costs. JIT production is quite similar to Lean manufacturing, and the phrases are sometimes used interchangeably.

Example of JIT Manufacturing

Toyota Motor Corporation is famous for its just-in-time inventory strategy.  The car manufacturer only orders components once new vehicle orders arrive. Despite the fact that the corporation used this strategy in the 1970s, it took 20 years to perfect it. Unfortunately, Toyota’s JIT inventory strategy almost brought the firm to a standstill in February 1997.  A fire at Japanese-owned automotive parts supplier Aisin devastated its ability to manufacture P-valves for Toyota’s automobiles. Because Aisin is the only supplier of this item, Toyota had to cease manufacturing for many days due to its weeks-long closure. As a result of this, several Toyota components suppliers were also forced to temporarily close their doors.  This is because the carmaker had no need for their products during that time period. As a result, Toyota lost 160 billion yen in income as a result of the fire.

JIT Meaning in Lean Production

JIT also refers to a type of just-in-time, lean management production method. All components of any manufacturing or service system, especially the humans, are integrated. They share information and are mutually reliant on achieving effective results. Kaizen, a Japanese phrase that means “better transformation,” inspired this technique. The business philosophy, which originated in Japan, seeks to continuously improve operations and involve all employees, from assembly line workers to the CEO. The objective, like with JIT, is to eliminate waste while improving quality.

Kanban is a Japanese scheduling method that is often used in combination with lean manufacturing and just-in-time delivery. Kanban was created by Taiichi Ohno, an industrial engineer at Toyota, in order to enhance production productivity. The Kanban system identifies trouble areas by analyzing lead and cycle times throughout the manufacturing process.  In turn, this assists in determining upper limits for work-in-process inventory to minimize overcapacity.

Kanban is the “nervous system” of lean JIT manufacturing, coordinating work-in-process and inventory movement. Kanban is instrumental in reducing industrial waste caused by overproduction. Traditional mass-production processes use push inventory tactics depending on the predicted number of sales. Because a corporation only produces things based on real orders, Kanban’s pull approach gives greater flexibility on the production floor. Kanban tracks the status of manufacturing on a factory floor using either paper or digital cards. Kanban cards represent the inventory’s progress.  It can then notify when it’s time to purchase additional stock as it travels through the production process.

JIT Meaning in Computer Programming

JIT meaning in computer programming refers to Just In Time Compilation.  Just in time compilation is a technique for enhancing interpreted program performance. When required, it compiles the program code instantly as part of the execution process. To boost performance, the application may be compiled into native code during execution. It is sometimes referred to as dynamic compilation.

Traditionally, there are two ways for translating source code into a platform-ready format. Static compilation converts the code into a platform-specific language. Next, an interpreter directly executes the source code. JIT compilation tries to make use of both advantages. While the interpreted program is being run, the JIT compiler determines the most frequently used code and compiles it to machine code. This may be done on a smaller portion of code, depending on the compiler.

JIT Meaning – Slang

According to the urban dictionary, the term jit is derived from jail and street slang. It typically refers to someone younger than you. However, it is most often used to describe young thugs, wanna-be thugs, or young punks. For example, you wouldn’t refer to your 9-year-old nephew as a jit.

  • Street slang – JIT meaning: Juvenile in training.  Any juvenile who doesn’t know how to act right, and still needs the training to grow up properly. Like most of these young jit’s on here who say stuff without really knowing what it stands for or means.
  • Miami and southern Florida slang – JIT meaning: a young gangster.  A young person, usually between the ages of 12 and 15, who thinks they are a lot older & cooler than they actually are. Often jits can be found at the mall or movie theater on a Friday night in groups of 5-10.  Girls are seen wearing too much makeup, clothes that do not fit correctly, and a fake designer purse. Boys are often a foot or so shorter than the girl, seen wearing gangster clothes even though they are often rich young white kids.
  • Correction system and police slang – JIT meaning: Juvenile In Trouble. From the corrections system, often used by one kid in detention referring to another, usually younger delinquent.

JIT Meaning – Frequently Asked Questions

What Exactly Does Just-in-Time (JIT) Mean?

A just-in-time (JIT) inventory system is a management method requiring a firm to get products exactly when needed.  Or, as close to when they are required as feasible. As a result, if a vehicle assembly factory wants to add airbags, it does not have a supply of airbags on hand.  Rather, it gets them and installs them as automobiles come off the assembly line.

What If Things Don’t Arrive in Time?

A key advantage of a JIT system is that it reduces the need for a firm to hold huge amounts of inventory.  In turn, this increases efficiency and generates significant cost savings. However, if there is a supply or demand shock, everything might come to a standstill. For example, consider the start of the 2020 economic crisis.  Delivery of everything from ventilators to surgical masks was disrupted.  This was because inputs from outside could not arrive in time to meet an increase in demand.

Nevertheless, companies that use JIT manufacturing processes benefit from decreased cycle times, quicker time to market, and lower operational costs in general.  Of course, there are certain potential dangers, particularly for smaller enterprises that must be monitored closely. To be successful with JIT, it’s critical to select suppliers that are nearby and can provide supplies fast with little notice. Minimum order requirements may often pose a danger to smaller firms that buy lower amounts of supplies.

What Types of Companies Use JIT?

The JIT inventory strategy is popular with both small enterprises and large organizations.  It improves cash flow and lowers the amount of capital required to operate the firm. Just-in-time inventory has helped businesses in most industries.  For example, retail, restaurants, on-demand publishing, technology production, and vehicle manufacture.

Did Toyota invent JIT Inventory Management?

Toyota Motor Corporation is known for its early adoption of JIT manufacturing. Toyota executives in the 1970s reasoned that if the corporation did not maintain any more inventory in-store than was immediately required, it could respond more rapidly and effectively to changes in trends or needs for model revisions.

Up Next: What Is Moral Suasion?

 Moral SuasionMoral suasion is the act of using verbal arguments, appeals, and persuasion to influence a person or group of people to change their behavior. This is in contrast to using overt coercion or physical force. In other words, moral suasion uses diplomatic verbal strategies rather than force or coercion to persuade individuals to behave in a specific way. In economics, moral suasion is more clearly described as an endeavor to influence private economic actions.  However, this is accomplished by governmental encouragement rather than through previously specified or current statutory legislation. As a result, it is sometimes used to refer to how central banks function.

Moral suasion may be used by anybody to attempt to persuade another party to alter their attitude or conduct.  However, in an economic context, it often refers to central bankers’ employment of persuasive methods in public or private. In this regard, it is sometimes referred to as simply suasion. This is because the motivations behind it are not necessarily altruistic or moral.  Rather, they have to do with the pursuit of certain agendas. In U.S. politics, moral suasion is also known as jawboning, since it amounts to nothing more than rhetoric and talk.  This is in contrast to the more forceful methods the Federal Reserve and other policymakers have at their disposal.  For example, influencing the rate of inflation in an open market without specific legislative procedures.

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