An empirical analysis of just-in-time production in Japanese manufacturing companies

This paper focuses on the requirements for just-in-time (JIT) production systems and the roles and consequences of JIT production for manufacturing companies. The paper reports nine reliable and valid measurement scales concerning JIT production practices for 46 Japanese manufacturing plants. Based on these measurement scales and a summarized superscale, it is proved that JIT production systems contribute to improving competitive performance, and that efficient equipment layout has a strong impact on the competitive position of the manufacturing plant. More importantly, JIT production interacts with other operations management areas. Fourteen scales are closely correlated with JIT production. They jointly characterize a committed and coordinated organization, high problem-solving competence of human resources, a solid base for total quality management, stable or predictable information systems, inter-functional technology development, and the business/manufacturing strategy encouraging functional integration. (C) 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.