Just-in-time purchasing: An investigation for research and applications

Just-in-time (JIT) purchasing is a systems approach for developing and operating the purchasing function. JIT purchasing along with the total quality management in many industries has been successful in reducing inventory and increasing the overall effectiveness of purchasing function and hence the productivity of manufacturing. JIT purchasing methods are successful not only in Japan, but also in many countries like, South Korea, Taiwan, USA, UK, Germany, France, Hong Kong, etc. JIT purchasing has tremendous effects on the operations of production, distribution, and accounting. An attempt has been made in this paper to review the literature available on JIT purchasing with an objective to establish a framework for improving the effectiveness of purchasing function. Tn addition, some future research directions on JIT purchasing are indicated. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.