Acknowledgement
It is with overwhelming gratitude that I thank my lecturer, Mr. Harish, for giving me the opportunity to write a report on a challenging subject like ‘Just-in-time in service industry’. I would also like to thank my parents for supporting me in the noble pursuit of knowledge. Special thanks to my beloved life partner who helped me in getting a lot of research material.
I also express my thanks to the authors of the books which has helped me get a better outlook of the topic. I am also grateful to all those contributors whose valuable articles and experiences have enriched this report. The internet has also been a good source for my research. Finally, I would extend my sincere thanks to my room partner to help me with all his experience of research writing.
Executive Summary
In today’s drastically changing business environment, no business can grow and prosper if it does not adapt to the rapidly changing work practices. Just-in-time, the formalized process of reducing all kinds of wastes has been popular in the manufacturing sector for a long time. The service industry has recognized that the JIT system can be adapted successfully in their processes and add value to the basic inputs used to create the end product. The most important aspect of JIT is that it lays emphasis on the process and not on the end product. It therefore can be applied to any process within the service sector. The author has followed Benson’s (1986) guidelines for applying JIT in service, which are as follows:
• synchronization and balance of information and work flow;
• total visibility of all components of the process;
• continuous improvement of the process;
• ...