Just-in-Time Production Systems (JITPS) in Developing Countries: The Nigerian Experience

Abstract

Despite the immense advantages of the JITPS, its adoption in the third world manufacturing is quite limited. Manufacturing sectors in this part of the world are still run on the basis of old production systems that included so many activities that add little value to the final production process. Production processes are therefore slow, wasteful and characterized by avoidable complexities. This paper examines the extent of JITPS in a typical third world country-Nigeria, with a view to identifying the extent of adoption as well as the hindrances on the part of adopting the technique. Structured questionnaires were administered to companies to indicate whether or not they were adopting the technique. We also elicit information on the nature of JITPS adopted by companies as well as the benefits accrue from adopting the method. The findings include that fairly larger companies adopt JIT method more while the relatively smaller ones are still not aware of the existence of the technique. The paper also identifies structural hindrances to the adoption of JITPS, solutions were also suggested to overcome some of these problems.