JIT and corporate transportation requirements

Just-in-time (JIT) manufacturing programs represent organizational commitments to improve input and finished product quality, eliminate raw material and work-in-process inventories, increase manufacturing efficiency, and respond more effectively to market demand. This study examines the corporate transportation decision-making linkages with JIT programs. Five topics are addressed: The extent to which companies committed to JIT have altered their number of carriers and modes of transportation; how JIT users select carriers and monitor their performance; the information flow within an organization implementing JIT; impediments encountered in JIT integration process and the extent to which this has necessitated additional training of personnel; financial implications and the benefits/costs of modifying corporate transportation policies to meet JIT requirements.