Abstract

The paper presents the findings of the study that was conducted to investigate the impact of application of Just-In-Time (JIT) inventory management system in the manufacturing sector SMEs. Self-administered questionnaires were distributed to a sample of manufacturing sector SMEs in the food, wood and furniture, metals, non-metals and other industries. The study revealed that the majority of SMEs in the manufacturing sector were not applying the JIT inventory management principles. It was furthermore revealed that there are challenges impeding the implementation of JIT principles in the manufacturing sector SMEs. These challenges include lack of reliable supplier networks, lack of capital and lack of knowledge of immediate financial gains among others. Furthermore, statistically significant positive correlations between the application of JIT inventory management principles and cost efficiency, quality and flexibility were found. It is therefore deduced that manufacturing sector SMEs can benefit significantly in terms of improved quality of products, increased operational cost cuts and increased flexibility by applying the JIT inventory management principles.

Key words: South Africa, just-in-time, efficiency, quality, flexibility, small and medium enterprises.