Relationships particularly between labor and

relationships, particularly between labor and management. Managers cannot
mandate genuine and meaningful respect.

Benefits of JIT
JIT in Services
Improved Quality - Service quality is often measured by intangible factors such as timeliness,
service consistency, and courtesy. Building quality into the process of service delivery and
implementing concepts such as quality at the source can significantly improve service quality
dimensions.
Uniform Facility Loading - The challenge for service operations is synchronizing their
production with demand. Many service firms have developed unique ways to level customer
demand in order to provide better service responsiveness.
Use of Multifunction Workers - The use of multifunction workers in service organizations
helps improve quality and customer responsiveness. An example of this is seen in department
stores, where workers make sales, clean sales areas, and arrange displays.
Reductions in Cycle Time - Competition based on speed is common in services, as can be seen
in such companies as McDonald’s, Wendy’s, FedEx, and LensCrafters. These companies have
used JIT concepts to reduce their cycle time and, consequently, increase their speed.
Minimizing Setup Times and Parallel Processing - The concept of setup time minimization and
parallel processing can be seen in cleaning companies. Merry Maids is a cleaning company
that uses teams of workers to clean homes. Each member of the team is designated to carry
out a specific category of cleaning tasks. For example, one worker may be responsible for all
the dusting, another for all the bathrooms, and another for the vacuuming. This minimizes
setup time, and parallel processing reduces the cycle time.
Workplace Organization - Improved housekeeping has become a priority for many service
organizations, particularly since the customer is present during part of the production process.
Service companies like Disney and McDonald’s pride themselves on the cleanliness of their
facilities.

JIT and Lean Systems across the Organization
Accounting is strongly affected by JIT. Traditional accounting systems generally allocate
overhead on the basis of direct labor hours.
Marketing plays a large role in JIT, as the interface with customers becomes more
important. JIT focuses on customer-driven quality, not quality as defined by the producer.
Finance is responsible for approving and evaluating financial investments. Switching to a
JIT system proves financially beneficial in the long run but generally requires an investment
in resources. Included are hiring consultants, training workers, purchasing or modifying
equipment, more record keeping, and rearrangement of facilities. Finance must evaluate
these investments and measure their performance, which requires an understanding of JIT.