EDI Implementation in JIT and Non‐JIT Manufacturing Firms: A Comparative Study

To compete successfully in the global market, firms are adopting ew technologies and manufacturing strategies. The Just‐in‐Time (JIT) philosophy and Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) are two recent developments that can help these firms. The success of JIT depends on timely and effective exchange of information between the manufacturing firm and its trading partners. The literature suggests that EDI, as a communication tool, can meet this demand. However, no study investigates the impact of EDI in the JIT environment. Also, the literature lacks a thorough investigation of the EDI benefits realized by JIT and non‐JIT manufacturing firms. This empirical study examines these issues. It is found that the reason for choosing EDI and the benefits realized by JIT firms differ from those of the non‐JIT firms. Further analysis suggests that JIT firms benefit more from EDI that non‐JIT firms.