For decades, the general wisdom in approaching manufacturing has been to rely on a “just in time” strategy to ensure component parts are available the moment they are needed rather than tying up capital to purchase and store inventory. However, with supply chain disruptions causing delays across industries, there is an argument to be made for holding “just in case” (JIC) inventory as well. This is especially important for “golden screws” — the one or two critical components that are needed to finish production and start generating revenue.

While the “just in time”(JIT) philosophy has been effective for over 30 years now, the recent disruptions that have been happening in the supply chain are unpredictable. In the past six years, these disruptions have been more severe and unanticipated, upsetting relative stability that had existed for some time. Suddenly, parts are completely unavailable, a problem that has been increasingly troublesome over the last 18 months.

“When there is supply chain harmony, when everybody is delivering on time, and there is plenty of inventory in distribution, ‘just in time’ works really well, but that is not the current reality, and as COVID taught us, you can never anticipate the next event,” said Mike Thomas, vice president and global general manager at Classic Components, an independent distributor based in Torrance, CA. “This makes the ‘just in case’ inventory philosophy a crucial piece of the profitability puzzle moving forward.”

JIC is not a new concept, but it is a “now” concept, given the instability in the past six years. It is an inventory management strategy where companies keep inventory on hand to anticipate and prepare for the unpredictability of demand or the times. The strategy is typically employed in less industrialized countries where disruptions in the supply chain are more common and maintaining more inventory in case of emergency is critical to avoid production delays and other inefficiencies.

“‘Just in case’ means having specific critical items in stock all the time so that when a situation arises like COVID, civil unrest, countries in conflict, or whatever else you can think of that disrupts the supply chain, we still have enough critical electronic components on hand to continue to manufacture our products. Even if it is not as profitable, you remain operational,” said Thomas.

Thomas believes in balancing “just in time” inventory, which helps businesses keep their inventory low and their capital high, with JIC, particularly of items that may be essential to the continued profitability of their business. A term that is gaining traction to describe such parts is the “golden screw,” an item that, at times, is difficult to procure but is essential to doing business.

“There are a lot of ‘golden screws’ now that companies just couldn’t get their hands on, and there were many products that couldn’t even be shipped. So, now they are meeting and shifting their strategies to ensure they always have the golden screws in the future,” said Thomas.

Combining these two inventory strategies gives organizations the best of both worlds — the low inventory and available capital of JIT with the security of JIC — which is especially beneficial for electronic components.

However, companies need to be willing to shift their strategy to accommodate a JIC philosophy. Organizations must have the foresight and awareness to anticipate future orders not yet placed and be proactive about securing the inventory required to ensure there are no delays when the product is needed.

Thomas adds that the items that have been difficult to find are not always complicated parts. OEMs require simple electronic components to make products in the same way nails and screws are required to construct a house.

“It is important to adopt a ‘just in case’ philosophy both for less sophisticated items along with higher end items as well, to cover all the bases,” said Thomas. “To extend the construction analogy, if a house is built with nails and screws, it will also require expensive fixtures to be completed.”

Classic Components
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