Just In Time is a management strategy based on planned elimination of all waste and continuous improvement of productivity. Just in Time (JIT) Inventory Control aims at elimination of wastes related to stocking and usage of raw materials and finished inventory.
The earliest application of Just in Time inventory control JIT is by Henry Ford of the Ford Motor Company who applied JIT to manage raw materials during the the early 20th Century.
The origins of JIT as a management strategy is however commonly associated with World War II Japan, when Taiichi Onho sought ways to revive the Toyota Corporation. The application of JIT in the Toyota Manufacturing process met with remarkable success, leading to widespread popularity for the concept. Toyota expanded the concept of JIT from Ford’s inventory control mechanism to a strategy that compasses all parts of an organization including order taking, purchasing, operations, distribution, sales, accounting, design, human resources, and other areas.
The Toyota production System also expanded the concept of waste from excess inventory to include unnecessary processing steps, idling time of machinery, product defects, faulty working techniques, unnecessary transportation, and overproduction.