Just‐in‐time implementation issues among automotive suppliers in the southern USA

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to provide insight into the major supply chain issues of the automotive manufacturing industry in the southern USA.Design/methodology/approachThis paper is based on the results of a survey of automotive suppliers in Tennessee and Alabama. The survey focused on supply chain issues and demographics, specifically on 20 JIT‐related problems and 100 company characteristics.FindingsIdentifies the extent of JIT implementation in Tennessee's and Alabama's growing automotive industry and the general characteristics of the companies that use JIT. Also identifies the types of problems experienced by JIT automotive suppliers; categorizes the problems as one‐time, periodically recurring, or ongoing; and identifies the most troublesome problems.Research limitations/implicationsThe survey results point to several problem areas of JIT suppliers for research focus, including identification of ways that small companies can resolve JIT implementation issues, the most common ongoing problem of unstable customer schedules, and the most frequently cited problems of poor production quality.Practical implicationsThe findings of this study can help others considering a conversion to a JIT system improve the likelihood of a successful implementation by making them aware of the implementation issues experienced by the JIT automotive suppliers in Tennessee and Alabama. It also provides guidelines for specific improvements that could be implemented by Tennessee and Alabama suppliers.Originality/valueThis paper provides a concise review of JIT literature. It also examines the growing automotive manufacturing industry in the southern USA. These smaller, primarily non‐union automotive suppliers represent a research set that has not been previously studied.