JIT Purchasing in Indian Service Sector

Abstract

Due to rapid developments in information technology, globalization, changing customer needs/preferences, and the changes in relative wealth between the developed and newly developing economies, the effective management of service systems addressing productivity, cost and quality issues has become important in the coming years. The management and marketing systems in services sector continue to suffer from lack of adequate systemization. The techniques for effective service operations management are not fully developed as in manufacturing. Materials management is one of the most important area in many service industries like railways, airways, telecommunication, roadways etc. on which the performance of these industries depend. JIT purchasing concepts have demonstrated their usefulness in Indian manufacturing industries and have the potential for quality improvement and cost saving. The purpose of this paper is to explore the relevance of JIT purchasing concepts in materials management of service sector. On the basis of preliminary relevant literature survey, it has been suggested to apply JIT purchasing concepts in service sector. A research methodology to carry out future work in this area is being proposed. In the end, some concluding observations are given.
Keywords: JIT, Purchasing, Problems, Service sector.