Business continuity Essay

solely in snip concept is a lean physical process concept applied in come out orbit management where an opening strives to produce only what is requested, whenever it is needed and in the amount that is needed. It allows for efficient yield of quality products through complete waste reasoning by elimination, avoidance of inconsistencies and in addition elimination of non-value addition activities within the issue line. (Lieb & deoxyadenosine monophosphate Miller 1988) concord to (Stank & adenine Crum 1997) the wastes that ar eliminated atomic number 18 related to labour, where over staffing is a waste, measure, in this slickness idle time or use of extra time to come a nonplus a goal is con boldnessred waste.Just in time concept emphasizes on customer requests and avoids making decisions based on forecast. In this concept, inventory is considered as an additional cost to the process. Traditionally, it would be considered to be value adding in the body. In this case, short letteres and judicatures are advised to eliminate each form of inventory that does non impact any additional value to the product. The just in time concept has distinguishable benefits to a personal credit line firm or enterprise. The benefits admit an improvement in the flow of goods into, within and from the warehouse.There is also go against planning and consistency in the shaping. Manpower base be trim back when production process has stopped mainly due to planned bar downs for maintenance, fundtaking activities, or any opposite reason (Stank & Crum 1997). This helps the enterprise to save on cost related to labour and other production overheads. When an organisation adopts the JIT concept and implements it, it helps in the production of better quality products and also increases the faculty of production. All the aforementioned benefits are customer oriented. We therefore defecate from the benefits customer satisfaction is enhanced.This in turn has an impact on customer loyalty and change sales by the organisation. The net effect of this is improved profits by the organisation (Swamidass 2000). Despite having all the above benefits, the take of the terror attacks on September 11 has cast a administer of doubt on the just in time (JIT) concept deliveries in the supply kitchen stove. In a supply compass, each organisation on the chain depends upon a supplier and therefore in case of a hitch on the chain, the repercussions are felt along the whole chain. beforehand the September 11 attack the JIT was comfortably applicable and implemented to various businesses.Until this time, overstocking was avoided and components were delivered to the mighty place at the right time and in the right form with no hitch. Piling of inventory was avoided and production processes proceeded smoothly. However, the events of September 11 reversed all these, there were delays caused by grounding of aircrafts and also a longer time was required fo r border inspections. Transport on record was also exceedingly affected. As an example, due to these interruptions, commodities destined for the Gap, Banana republic and the old navy stores ended up to a warehouse following(a) to an airport.The business environment, both external and internal go forth always be fluctuating. External environment ilk the impact from natural calamities e. g. hurri dirty doges, snow, storms, floods, earthquakes and internal environments like strikes, affect business operations. consequently, for an organisation with a JIT system, in case of any fluctuation in the business environment, the supply chain volition be disrupted and therefore flow of products downstream go away non be realized (McClenahen & Jusko 2001). For a sudden change in the business environment, the shocks will be felt through divulge the supply chain.There will be a gap that will be created along the chain at the point where the fluctuation is passing felt. It is a noble judgement for businesses to consider having some safety stock on hand at each link of supply chain, which will take care of the emergencies in case of any eventuality. Since a supply chain consists of a network/series of suppliers and consumers, a hitch on one supplier side will affect the consumer who is also a supplier to the following consumer. Therefore in a business that has adopted the JIT system, it might end up being grounded because of lack of inventory to process or sell to the next stage of the chains.It is therefore extremely recommended for such businesses to develop a Just in case system, a system that allows for a safety supplies that will take care of any eventualities. Even though the JIT system has a number of shortcomings in case of shocks within the supply chain, it is definitive to beak that organisations passel still implement JIT and maintain an attractive supply chain with lean inventories even during emergencies. To achieve this, one of the moves that a firm can make is locate where there is stock piling of inventories (Lu & Kyokai 1989).Firms can have most of its inventories stocked next to or near their locations. This will help overcome the problems due to shipment or air transportation in case these modes of transport are affected. A firm can also consider having more than one supplier for a give commodity, this will be a second option during emergency situations. For an organisation to succeed in its implementation of the JIT system, major changes within the organisation need to be undertaken. The top management need to show commitment and strait full support.They are also required to lead from the front if the benefits of the JIT system are to be realised. The adoption and implementation of the JIT system will well affect the mode and criteria through which carriers and other logistics services providers will be recruited by the organisation. Organisations should be able to come up with service providers who are ver y efficient so as to pass on the efficiency downstream the supply chain. The just in time concept is highly dependent on the speed and efficiency with which products are moving at along the chain.It is therefore worthy to mention that the JIT system will highly affect the style of operations in the logistics industry. The number of logistics service providers to be recruited will also be determined by the success of the JIT system. According to (Ian 1988), constant and effective communication between business firms and their suppliers is another important factor that will affect the coming(prenominal) of JIT in the global business environment. The quality of information that will be conveyed should also be devote into consideration. The right information should be conveyed to the right place, at the right time and to the right person.A successful implementation of the JIT system in the future will highly depend on additional readiness of the implementing staff office (Abuhilal, Rabadi, & Sousa-Poza 2006). A lot of emphasise should be on the training of the personnel that are now involved in the implementation of the JIT concept. This should not be taken to mean that other employees in the organisation should not be trained. An elaborate training plan on this system should be unveiled and the concerned departments or functions for example, production, logistics, marketing should be given blood-and-guts training.The major areas to be considered should include policies on JIT system, communication skills and training on commitment to the principles of JIT. The future of the just in time (JIT) system in the global environment will highly depend on the level of technology that will be embraced by an organisation. This includes both in machinery and other office operations. Adoption of improved technology for material handling is a key area that firms need to look at. They should consider embracing cross docking or flowing inventory through a statistical di stribution centre.With an improved material handling facility, the businesses can absorb shocks easily in the event that there is disruption in the supply chain (Kreng & Wang 2005) The use of information technology is in inventory management is particularly crucial if the growth and success of the JIT system is to be guaranteed. Business organisations should hire information technology resources both in hardware and software so as to enhance the success of the JIT system. Enterprise resource planning (ERP) modules should be adopted for inventory management and controls within the organisation.Internet resources should be highly utilised for an effective JIT system. The most applicable resources include e-procural, e- marketing. e-banking and e-mailing. When an organisation conducts procurement via internet, a variety of goods both in terms of quality and metre may be obtained. The business deal is also conducted in an intensify speed. Marketing via the internet allows for the organisation to reach many customers within a very short time and hence improve on the organisations sales.Internet banking allows for faster business transactions hence delays associated with payments are diluted and therefore the supply chain is protected from such delays (Hale 1997). To contain that the intended results of the JIT concept are achieved, it is important for firms doing business together along a given supply chain be proactive in their operations. By being proactive, it means that a consumer should be involved directly in what their supplier is producing. The consumers should be involved in product construct so as to have a product of their own making.On the hand it is very important for the suppliers to follow up and find out how their products are serving the customers. This will help in the elimination of ripples along the chain and hence easy implementation of the JIT system. The players in the supply chain should develop a culture of sharing problems when t hey occur at a particular point of the supply chain, this in a nutshell will reduce the overall effect that the problem would have on the entire supply chain (Titone 1996).The just in case system is another burn up that will have an impact on the future of JIT system in the global environment. It is very important for firms to have a buffer stock that can bail it out when events in the supply chain weart seem to be favourable. The idea of having safety stocks for emergency propagation should not be confused by firms holding inventories. It is a different concept from overstocking.