Businesscalendar_todayLast updated: Apr 2026
What is Just-in-Time?
/ˌdʒʌst ɪn ˈtaɪm/
A production and inventory strategy that aligns raw material orders with production schedules, receiving goods only as they are needed — minimising waste and storage costs.
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Everyday Example
A sushi restaurant that orders fish daily rather than weekly is using just-in-time logic — fresher product, less waste, lower storage costs. The risk is that one bad delivery disrupts everything.
publicReal-World Application
“Toyota invented the JIT system in the 1970s. It became so efficient that factories held only hours of inventory. COVID-19 exposed the fragility: when global supply chains broke, plants worldwide shut down within days.”
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Did you know?
Taiichi Ohno developed JIT as part of the Toyota Production System, inspired by American supermarkets — which restock shelves only after items are taken. He reversed the logic: let demand pull supply.
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Key Insight
JIT optimises for efficiency but sacrifices resilience. The pandemic revealed that many industries had traded robustness for cost savings. The question now is how much redundancy is worth paying for.
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