{"id":11950,"date":"2021-04-15T13:20:07","date_gmt":"2021-04-15T20:20:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/michaeljbrumm.com\/dclcorp-phase2\/?p=11950"},"modified":"2021-05-20T17:57:25","modified_gmt":"2021-05-21T00:57:25","slug":"pros-and-cons-just-in-time-jit-inventory-management","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/michaeljbrumm.com\/dclcorp-phase2\/blog\/inventory\/pros-and-cons-just-in-time-jit-inventory-management\/","title":{"rendered":"The Pros and Cons of Just-In-Time Inventory Management"},"content":{"rendered":"

An integral part of any successful ecommerce business is managing the supply and demand of your inventory. Businesses are selling on multiple channels and also fulfilling goods to customers in a variety of methods\u2014pickup in store, shipped direct to consumer, <\/span>fulfilled by Amazon<\/span><\/a>, and more. These variations further complicate inventory control and management. It becomes harder to ensure that your inventory numbers will accurately fulfill your customers needs and demands, without overstocking or understocking.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

A great <\/span>inventory management system<\/span><\/a> will help you streamline these issues\u2014some companies rely on Just-In-Time (JIT) <\/span>inventory management<\/span><\/a> wherein products are purchased (often if raw material form, or parts that will be assembled in production), shortly before they are needed so that they can be produced just as the customer orders. JIT is attractive to many businesses for its ability to pare down a manufacturing or fulfillment process to its core elements. This approach produced such great results for several large firms that it became foundational to the strategy that we now know as lean manufacturing. In our list of pros, we\u2019ll look at why it can be so successful. In our list of cons, we\u2019ll talk about some common difficulties to watch out for. Utilizing JIT can allow for merchants to hold a minimum amount of stock supplies on hand, to balance inventory costs, while at the same time making sure that stock-outs don\u2019t happen should there be a sudden spike in demand. If you are working with a <\/span>third-party logistics provider<\/span><\/a> (3PL) to outsource your inventory management they can likely help implement a JIT strategy. JIT is attractive to many businesses for its ability to pare down a manufacturing or fulfillment process to its core elements. This approach produced such great results for several large firms that it became foundational to the strategy that we now know as lean manufacturing. In our list of pros, we\u2019ll look at why it can be so successful. In our list of cons, we\u2019ll talk about some common difficulties to watch out for.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Pro: JIT as a Great Option to Optimize Capacity and Reduce Waste.<\/span><\/p>\n

Implementing JIT practices can be great for efficiency and productivity. The entire strategy revolves around using only the tools and materials necessary for the task at hand. By using JIT to map their manufacturing or warehouse operations to demand levels, many companies have achieved great results in minimizing costs of storage and fulfillment such as:<\/span><\/p>\n