ust a short 30 years, they were able to raise their quality standards to that of Benchmark proportions. By the 1980s U.S. manufacturers, particularly auto manufactures, awoke and realized that they, too, would have to adopt such quality standards. Total Quality Management (TQM) became the focus of most manufactures during the 70s and early 80s. The advent of just-in-time supply systems motivated people even more to develop new, better and more streamlined systems. The idea behind JIT, sometimes called zero inventory system, is to have materials arrive on site, as they are needed. This requires a unique relationship between suppliers, stockpilers and distributors as well as good, reliable technology. "JIT was originally developed in Japan by Taiichi Okno, a vice-president of Toyota. Originally, the system was called the kanban system, named after the cards that were placed in the parts bins that were used to call for a new supply." JIT may seem like just and inventory control system, but it is more of a production and management system. " Not only is inventory cut down to a minimum, but the time and physical distance between the various production operations are also reduced. Inn addition, management is willing to trade off cost to develop close relationships with suppliers and promote speedy replenishment of inventory in return for the ability to hold less safety stock." "JIT fucus on reducing inefficiency and unproductive time in the production process to improve continuously the process and the quality of the product or service." The relationship that exist between manufacturers, distributors and all the people in between has been expanded into the broader concept of supply chain management. "Supply chain management starts earlier than physical distribution, attempting to procure the right inputs (raw materials, components and capital equipment); convert them efficiently into finished products: and dispatch them to ...
