JIT application: process-oriented supply chain management in a health care system

Hospital operators are searching continuously for innovative ways to contain costs without sacrificing quality. Many hospitals have focused their cost containment efforts on lowering the acquisition price of supplies instead of lowering their total delivered cost. However, this paper presents a novel approach to lower the costs of the logistics of delivering supplies by adopting elements of just-in-time (JIT) systems. It is suggested that JIT can be applied in the following areas of hospitals: central supply and materials management, in which it also hints at the concept of process orientation.