In this paper, we addressed the issue of whether
the events of 11 September 2001 and the
subsequent uncertainties in the environment
called for a rethinking on the benefits of systems
such as JIT that assume a streamlined and
seamless functioning supply chain. The large
number of articles both advocating changes to
systems and those advocating continuation of the
JIT systems in professional business journals and
newspapers shows the importance of this issue and
the degree of confusion that surrounds it.
We developed an information and incentive
effects model within the inventory control
framework to address this issue. The traditional
inventory models minimize the total expected
holding, obsolescence, set-up (lead time) and
stock-out costs. In the traditional frame, JIT