A Study on Just-in-Time Implementation in Portugal: Some Empirical Evidence

• Autor(a) principal: Moreira, Maria Rosário Mota Oliveira Alves
• Data de Publicação: 2010
• Outros Autores: Alves, Rui Alberto Ferreira Santos
• Tipo de documento: Artigo
• Idioma: eng
• Título da fonte: Brazilian Journal of Operations & Production Management (Online)
• Texto Completo: https://bjopm.org.br/bjopm/article/view/BJV5N1_2008_P1

The objective of this paper is to find how far the Just-in-Time system is being implementedby Portuguese manufacturing firms, as well as assessing its perception and its potentialbenefits by managers. First, several studies about the implementation of the Just-in-Timesystem in various countries over the past 25 years are reviewed, and then the descriptivesurvey research is reported. Data were collected from a mail questionnaire sent to a fewhundred firms in Portugal. The findings show that the surveyed firms view the Just-in-Timesystem as a way to reduce inventories, to increase quality, and to eliminate waste. Despitethis good perception, less than 6% of the surveyed firms have the necessary conditions tosuccessfully implement a Just-in-Time system. A significant practical implication of thisstudy is that Portuguese firms should use Just-in-Time as a philosophy rather than as asolution for operations-related problems. Another contribution is to point out the mostcommon difficulties for its implementation, so that Portuguese firms that want to do it canbe prepared to overcome those difficulties.