Just‐in‐time management in the ready mixed concrete industries of Chongqing, China and Singapore

Abstract

Implementing just‐in‐time (JIT) management in the ready mixed concrete (RMC) industry seems viable. It has been observed previously by others that the current practices for managing the concrete supply chain upstream in terms of raw materials acquisition or prerequisite work on site were not geared toward JIT production. However, it is unclear if this observation is also relevant for the procurement of raw materials in the RMC industry in Chongqing (in China) and Singapore. Hence, the purpose of this study is to investigate the implementation status of JIT in the RMC industry in Chongqing and Singapore. The field study conducted found that all the RMC suppliers surveyed were using the demand pull system to manage RMC production and delivery to sites. However, the study also found that the raw materials could be purchased either using the JIT purchasing method or the traditional economic order quantity (EOQ) purchasing method. Further studies to investigate the conditions where a RMC supplier can adopt the JIT purchasing method to procure its raw materials are recommended.