Re: "Just in Time" management

["David Martin" <d_martin@mountains.net.au>]

The gas failure in Victoria provided a good demonstration of how business
shuts down when JIT fails. I was living in Adelaide at the time - the
Mitsubishi plant & others shut down real quick.

--
David Martin
Web Developer
Info Blue Mountains - Blue Mountains Info
http://info.mountains.net.au




Chris Brownbill <cbrnbill@enternet.com.au> wrote in message
390A7974.BDCF42DA@enternet.com.au">news:390A7974.BDCF42DA@enternet.com.au...
> There's a great article in the Business pages of yesterday's (Friday)
Melbourne
> Age which rips into the religion of "Just in Time" management.  About time
I
> say.
>
> For those who aren't familiar with it - "Just in Time" is a process of
supplying
> goods for manufacturing in which absolute minimum stock levels are
maintained,
> and supplies are delivered in small lots just as they are required.
>
> Just in Time, in theory, saves the purchaser having to warehouse
materials - BUT
> the article makes the point that this simply means that the upsteam
provider has
> to warehouse them anyway.  JIT also increases the vulnerability of
manufacturing
> processes to failure in the event of a disruption anywhere in the process
chain
> because there is no buffer of supplies.
>
> Railways are not well placed to implement Just in Time because JIT
requires
> frequent deliveries of small consignments whereas rail is better suited to
> larger shipments.  It could be that JIT has been responsible for
significant
> loss of rail business to road over the past decades.
>
> If this article is an indicator of an emerging common sense in the
business
> world turing their backs on JIT, then it could be VERY good news for rail
> freight operators in Australia and worldwide.