Impact of just-in-time (JIT) inventory system on efficiency, quality and flexibility among manufacturing sector, small and medium enterprise (SMEs) in South Africa(Article 2)

        In this article, a research study was conducted in South Africa for small as well as medium size enterprises. The aim of the study was to find out that what impact JIT system can have on quality, efficiency as well as flexibility on the performance of manufacturing sector of South African’s small & medium size enterprises. Different industries such as furniture, food, non metals and metal were selected for the study to get an idea about the importance and impact of JIT. The study came with some insightful conclusions to review the South African SMEs. The article is an important one to look at manufacturing sectors of developing world that what methods have been applied by them and where they are lacking in their performance as compared to the developed world. It is a fact that focus is always given to international firms and firms residing in developed countries, but in a global landscape, it is crucial to review small sectors of developing world as well. It generally also gives an idea that why developing world is staying behind from developed world in their progress [5]

        Every research article for JIT system is critical to review because it has some great lessons for manufacturing firms to learn, and avoid those mistakes, which are made by other firms. This article was good for SMEs to understand the importance of JIT system. The article revealed that South African SMEs were not implementing JIT system in their manufacturing sector. Now, it was essential to find out that why it is not being applied by SMEs in South Africa, and article revealed the challenges too. The first challenge explained that supplier’s network was not present in manufacturing sector, as well as SMEs did not have any knowledge on implementing JIT system. Moreover, the firms also did not have enough capital to apply JIT in their manufacturing process, and they were also not aware of the financial benefits of JIT system. But it was great to find out SMEs which applied JIT system in their manufacturing process, they were able to feel a positive impact on their manufacturing process. Those firms were able to be more efficient on cost basis, and they were also found to have more flexibility as well s quality in their manufacturing units. These results again reaffirm the importance and positive impact of JIT on manufacturing process of SMEs along with large firms.

References of Just in Time (JIT) Manufacturing