The Benefits of ‘Just In Time’

We live in a fast paced world where many of us are controlled by our strict schedules – be this in our personal life or our work life – and, as a result, we are constantly striving to achieve new goals and meet deadlines. Other daily pressures often come from the fear of over-production; we are consistently encouraged to produce as little waste as possible, despite small volumes of waste often seeming inevitable.

In the logistics industry, these factors are even more prevalent, particularly as the strive to meet customer demand is a daily task. That’s why at Barnes Logistics, we aim to maximise our efficiency through a ‘Just In Time’ strategy. This, combined with our experience and expertise has proven invaluable to a number of industries.

The concept of ‘Just In Time’ (JIT), may sound stressful, or remind you of the colleague who regularly arrives at the office ‘just in time’, but in reality the method is consistently efficient and helps reduce global waste, so everyone’s a winner! As a result, the approach has been adopted within the manufacturing sector for a number of years.

The method is simple: flow times are reduced as orders are only moved to specific locations at the required time; reducing the amount of inventory, which in turn reduces waste and saves money.

This means that a production cycle is only started after a customer order is placed and stocks delivered only when necessary. The process has been coined ‘lean production’ – but what exactly does this mean? The philosophy began at the British Motor Corporation plant in Australia, before heading to Japan where its usefulness was maximised. The Japanese wished to eradicate ‘muda’ – any form of waste, from effort to materials to time. Although the method requires intensely designed warehouse systems, sophisticated tracking and accurate and synchronised operation management, the philosophy has been incorporated into our own business.

But why bother with a ‘Just In Time’ system? Whilst it may seem a complex scheme with extensive planning and management (which it does!), companies such as ours revel in such processes due to our experience in managing ‘Just In Time’ logistics. Our primary aim as a business is to keep our customers happy, and through this methodological approach, we know that our services are maximised, allowing an improved outcome for the customer, from a trusted logistical source.

We can help with a range of logistical matters, no matter how big or small. Feel free to get in touch with us today.