Effect of the characteristics of the purchased products in JIT purchasing implementation

JIT purchasing, like many other trends in supply management, is not applicable to just any circumstances; rather, its implementation responds to particular factors. Focusing on the characteristics of the purchased products, this paper contributes to identifying some of these factors. Seven variables – the volume, specificity, technological complexity, essentiality, fragility, variability and economic value of procured products – have been analysed and their effects on JIT purchasing implementation have been tested over a sample of 152 Spanish auto component manufacturers. In order to specify such effects, four dimensions of JIT purchasing have been distinguished: operational, relational, involvement, and quality practices. Results show that companies do not pursue the minimisation of inventory maintenance costs, but they seem to be motivated by objectives such as quality, responsiveness, innovation or minimisation of circulating capital. Thus, operational JIT purchasing practices are mainly applied to fragile and expensive products, whereas the other complementary practices are applied to specific, technologically complex and essential purchases.