Just-in-time is not just for manufacturing: a service perspective

Confronting the challenges of global competition, companies are focusing more on the needs of customers to improve product quality and customer service. The manufacturing sector has long been aware of the need to reduce waste as a means to reduce costs and improve product quality. Justin-time (JIT), the formalized process of waste reduction, has achieved a strong foothold in the manufacturing sector. The service sector, however, has not been as quick to recognize the benefits of JIT. Services are much like manufacturing in that both employ processes that add value to the basic inputs used to create the end product. JIT focuses on the process, not the product. It can, therefore, be applied to any process within manufacturing or service operations. This paper provides a framework for applying JIT to processes in the service sector, with the goal of investigating how JIT principles can be implemented in services.