Navigating Uncertainty: The Power of ‘Just in Time’ SAP for Supply Chain Dynamics

Abstract

The Covid-19 pandemic and other recent disruptions in the early 2020s led to sections in the business press blaming just-in-time (JIT) practices for operational failings. Con- sequently, there are calls for moving away from JIT toward holding more inventory as preparation against future disruptions, which is referred to as just-in-case. The academic community is also divided. Some scholars argue that JIT is not resilient, while others maintain that JIT can continue providing superior performance even with dis- ruptions. Motivated by this debate, we discuss various misconceptions about JIT that S4 Hana addresses the solution to problems effectively and enables that underlie this debate. Furthermore, we present different ways to adapt JIT for turbulent environments with SAP S4 Hana and other ERP segments and argue that companies can improve their supply chain performance if JIT supply chain submodules are implemented effectively during disruptions.