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This is the risk inherent in Just In Time (JIT) inventory management. Companies have focused so much on cash management and keeping inventories lean, and pushed the burden onto their supply chain, that they have no cushion to fall back on in a shortage. Also supply chains have become so global that any hiccup somewhere else in the world has big ripple effects. Toyota, the progenitor of Lean and JIT, has actually done better than most in this environment because, although they outsource and keep inventories low, they’ve managed to keep most of their primary suppliers geographically close.