Topic Report # 6
Date: April 20, 2015.
Why might just in time inventory management approaches not sustainable from environmental perspective?
Just in time or simply JIT is a system, which is very useful and widely utilised for controlling inventory costs by various retailers and suppliers. In this system products are made in a quantity that is sufficient to fulfil customer demand so that over production costs can be saved. There are many benefits of this business approach however it is not that sustainable from environmental point of view. Earlier bicycles were used for making deliveries in just in time management. However, nowadays-frequent deliveries are made using trucks, vans and other vehicles that use more fuel and consequently there is more wastage of fuel for deliveries and more consumption of fossil fuels, which is a negative impact on environment.
Sometimes, it can lead to increased number of transportation trips, which results in vehicle congestion on roads and more emission that is detrimental to environment.
Supplier logistics: The shipments are more frequent from suppliers in order to meet the flow of production. The impacts on air emission, land use, energy use and solid, liquid waste are remarkable. As shipments are frequent, there is less air quality due to emissions and congestion of vehicles. There is more land use for parking of vehicles. There is under utilisation of truckloads, which in turn increases the energy consumption. There are generally more emergency shipments for fluctuations in production demands, which also results in more frequent deliveries and environmental deterioration by fuel wastage and emission. Moreover, efforts are made to maintain inventory because there is a risk of shifting inventory to suppliers. More space and energy is required to maintain inventory and more waste is associated with maintaining inventory.
Citations:
Citations: http://smallbusiness.chron.com/just-time-inventory-definition-23475.html http://www.tutorialspoint.com/management_concepts/just_in_time_manufacturing.htm http://www.epa.gov/lean/environment/methods/kanban.htm https://www.scribd.com/mobile/doc/84481382