Just-in-Case Is the New Just-in-Time: Rethinking Inventory in the Age of Disruption

Tired of waiting on shipments that never arrive on time? You’re not alone.
More and more manufacturing businesses are ditching “just-in-time” thinking—and for good reason. With today’s unpredictable supply chain, one missing part can bring your entire line to a standstill. A few small inventory shifts can give your business more control, less downtime, and faster delivery.

Every manufacturer knows the pressure of keeping inventory lean. But lately, lean has turned into fragile. If you’ve ever had to halt production over a part that should’ve shown up last week, this article is for you. It’s time to rethink what makes sense when supply chains are this unpredictable. Let’s talk about a smarter, more resilient approach that still keeps you competitive.

Why Just-in-Time Can’t Keep Up Anymore

For years, just-in-time (JIT) inventory was the go-to strategy. Only order what you need, when you need it. Keep your warehouse costs low. Eliminate waste. It was efficient, clean, and easy to justify to your finance team. And it worked well—as long as everything else worked too. But that’s not the world we’re living in anymore.

Today, businesses are dealing with raw material delays, shipping container shortages, freight price spikes, and unpredictable lead times from overseas. The result? JIT becomes a gamble. That one part you counted on arriving Friday now takes three weeks. Meanwhile, your machines sit idle, orders are delayed, and customers get frustrated. The cost of “running lean” starts to look a lot more expensive than people think.

JIT only works when the supply chain is predictable. But global events—from pandemics to port congestion to regional instability—have made that predictability a thing of the past. The more interconnected and stretched supply chains have become, the more likely they are to break in unexpected places. Businesses that once prided themselves on razor-thin inventory margins are now seeing those margins turn into exposure points.

Let’s say you run a shop making precision metal brackets for industrial equipment. If your supplier in Asia misses a shipment of M8 bolts by just five days, your entire week of work can get thrown off. You’re stuck paying overtime to catch up later, or worse, you lose the customer entirely. What used to feel like “inventory discipline” now feels more like unnecessary risk. And it’s time for a better approach.

What Just-in-Case Really Means (And Doesn’t Mean)

When people hear “just-in-case” (JIC), they sometimes picture warehouses crammed with dusty pallets and slow-moving stock. But that’s not what this is about. JIC isn’t a return to overstocking everything. It’s a targeted, data-informed approach that focuses on protecting your production flow by holding a small buffer of the right items—not all items.

Just-in-case is really about creating flexibility where it matters most. The goal is to prevent one missing component from shutting down your whole operation. This means identifying the items that, when delayed, cause the most disruption—not necessarily the most expensive ones, but the ones that have the biggest ripple effects across your production. These are usually parts with long lead times, single-source dependencies, or high variability in delivery reliability.

For example, a Midwest business that builds custom industrial fans used to run everything JIT. They noticed that one particular bearing frequently arrived late, even though it was a relatively low-cost item. That bearing was used in almost 70% of their units. When they started keeping just a two-week supply on hand, their late shipments dropped by 35% within three months. It wasn’t about carrying more of everything—just the stuff that actually mattered.

Think of it like having a spare tire. You don’t keep spares for everything in your car, but for the one failure that can completely stop you in your tracks, you plan ahead. That’s how JIC works when it’s done right. It’s not about fear—it’s about control.

Where Just-in-Case Makes the Most Sense

If you’re trying to figure out where to start, there are four areas where JIC tends to deliver the biggest impact. First: critical components with long or unreliable lead times. If there’s something your line can’t run without, and your supplier’s delivery window has gotten flaky, that’s the first thing you build a buffer around. These are the parts that turn small shipping hiccups into big production delays.

Second: items from overseas or from single-source suppliers. The more distance or exclusivity involved, the more exposed you are. If you’ve got a supplier across the world, or only one source for a custom component, it’s smart to build in a cushion while you work on diversifying or localizing your sourcing. One delayed customs clearance shouldn’t be able to shut you down.

Third: high-margin products that are prone to stockouts. If you make a product that moves fast and brings in great profits, that’s the last thing you want sitting in backlog. Keeping a little extra of the right subcomponents or finished goods can keep the cash flowing without tying up too much capital. One manufacturer we know of builds compact conveyor systems. They started keeping buffer stock for their best-selling model after losing two deals due to backorders. That buffer paid for itself within 60 days.

Fourth: custom or rarely used parts that are a pain to reorder. If something takes weeks to make or has limited vendors, it’s not worth risking delays for the sake of staying lean. Keep one or two extras on hand. That small cost is cheap insurance against a big headache later. One business we talked to was down for four days over a sensor bracket they only used once every two months. They now keep one spare on the shelf—and haven’t missed a deadline since.

A Smarter Way to Balance Inventory and Risk

One of the biggest myths in manufacturing is that being lean always means being smart. But if your version of lean leaves you with no room for error, what you really have is a brittle system. A small change upstream can cause chaos downstream. That’s not lean—that’s fragile.

Just-in-case doesn’t mean giving up on efficiency. It just means being strategic about where you build in room to maneuver. You don’t need more inventory—you need more useful inventory. That starts with better visibility into your supply chain and your own production data. What are your biggest pain points? Where are you frequently chasing parts or expediting orders? That’s where you focus your efforts.

Many businesses assume they can’t afford to carry more. But when you run the numbers, the cost of a two-week buffer on key items is often far lower than the cost of emergency shipping, machine downtime, or lost customer trust. Think about how many times you’ve paid a rush fee to a supplier because you didn’t want to risk a late order. Those are the areas where a small inventory investment can pay off big.

One approach that’s working well for growing manufacturers is scoring their parts by risk—looking at factors like lead time variability, delivery reliability, and impact on production if that part is missing. They then assign each part to a category: JIT for low-risk items, light buffer for medium-risk, and a two-to-four-week buffer for the high-risk ones. This kind of tiered system isn’t complicated to set up and helps keep working capital in check while avoiding the worst disruptions.

How to Get Started Without Overcomplicating It

The idea of shifting your inventory strategy can feel overwhelming, but the good news is you don’t have to overhaul everything at once. Start small and focus where the pain is most acute. A practical first step is to gather your production and purchasing teams over a cup of coffee and ask one simple question: “Which parts have caused the biggest delays or emergencies in the past six months?”

Often, a handful of components will come up repeatedly. Those are your prime candidates for just-in-case buffers. Set a modest target—maybe two weeks of extra stock for those parts—to start with. You’re not stocking up on everything, just the real troublemakers. This small change alone can dramatically reduce emergency shipments and downtime.

While you’re at it, start tracking lead times more rigorously. Ask your suppliers for their most accurate delivery estimates and factor in known bottlenecks like port delays or customs hold-ups. If you haven’t talked to your suppliers about your challenges lately, now is the time. Strong supplier relationships can lead to better communication, faster problem-solving, and even vendor-managed inventory options that reduce your risk.

Finally, use your existing data to create a simple risk scorecard for your inventory. It doesn’t have to be fancy—just a spreadsheet with columns like supplier reliability, lead time length, criticality to production, and cost impact. This gives you a clearer picture of where to build buffers and where JIT is still a safe bet. The goal is smarter inventory decisions, not more inventory.

Why Just-in-Case and Just-in-Time Should Work Together

Some might think this shift means abandoning JIT altogether. Not true. The smartest manufacturers don’t pick one strategy and stick to it rigidly—they combine them in a way that makes sense for their unique business.

Think of JIT and JIC as two tools in your toolbox. For low-risk items that are easy to get and don’t impact production much if delayed, JIT is still king. It keeps costs low and avoids waste. But for the critical parts that can stop your entire line or where lead times are unpredictable, JIC is your safety net.

This hybrid approach lets you stay lean where you can, without being vulnerable where you can’t afford it. Some businesses are even categorizing their inventory into tiers—Tier 1 items get a robust buffer, Tier 2 a small one, and Tier 3 sticks to JIT. This way, you’re investing working capital only where it counts, maximizing both agility and resilience.

For example, a precision machining shop in Texas applied this approach by categorizing parts based on how often delays occurred and how much downtime they caused. They kept their regular inventory lean on common fasteners but built buffers on specialty cutting tools and custom fittings. This strategy helped reduce urgent orders and improved production reliability without ballooning costs.

Real-Life Impact: What a Little Inventory Buffer Can Do

Let’s take a look at what a strategic just-in-case mindset can mean on the ground. Imagine a manufacturer who traditionally ran lean on everything—just a day or two of stock at most. When a supplier delayed a key batch of electronic components for two weeks, the entire production stopped, costing thousands in lost labor and missed deadlines.

After adding a modest two-week buffer on just that one component, the company reported fewer emergencies, smoother workflows, and happier customers. The cost of carrying the extra inventory was far less than the cost of rushed air shipments and overtime labor.

Another example: a mid-sized maker of automotive parts realized that one overseas supplier’s shipments were regularly delayed during seasonal holidays and shipping bottlenecks. By building small buffer stocks and starting conversations to source alternative suppliers closer to home, they cut downtime by nearly half and reduced expedited shipping costs by 70%.

These examples aren’t isolated. Across industries, businesses that rethink inventory with resilience in mind find they can avoid costly surprises and keep their promises to customers without losing efficiency.

The Bottom Line: Resilience Beats Perfection

The supply chain won’t be perfectly smooth anytime soon. Instead of chasing perfection with JIT, manufacturers need to aim for resilience. That means planning for disruption, not hoping it won’t happen.

Shifting to a more flexible inventory approach is less about adding cost and more about reducing risk. A small investment in buffers on critical items can pay dividends in uptime, customer satisfaction, and peace of mind. You’re not stocking everything “just in case,” you’re protecting your business against real, predictable risks.

By combining just-in-time for low-risk parts and just-in-case for high-risk parts, your business can stay lean and agile without being fragile. It’s about balancing efficiency with security—and making inventory work for you, not against you.

Top 5 FAQs About Just-in-Case Inventory for Manufacturers

1. Isn’t just-in-case inventory just expensive stockpiling?
Not if done right. Just-in-case means selectively buffering key items that cause major production issues. It’s targeted, data-driven, and designed to reduce emergency costs—not hoard excess inventory.

2. How do I identify which parts need a just-in-case buffer?
Start by reviewing your production delays and emergency orders. Look at lead times, supplier reliability, and which parts cause the most downtime. Focus on critical, long-lead, or single-source items first.

3. Will carrying more inventory tie up too much working capital?
Carrying buffers on a small subset of high-impact parts usually costs less than paying for rush shipping, downtime, or lost orders. The goal is smarter inventory, not more inventory.

4. How do I balance just-in-time and just-in-case strategies?
Use JIT for steady, low-risk parts and JIC buffers for critical or unpredictable items. Consider tiering your inventory to assign different strategies based on risk and impact.

5. Can suppliers help with just-in-case inventory?
Absolutely. Strong supplier relationships can open options like vendor-managed inventory, local stocking, or faster response times. Communication is key to making buffers effective.

Ready to Turn Your Inventory Into a Competitive Advantage?

You’ve seen how small, smart shifts can protect your business from costly downtime and unhappy customers. Don’t wait for the next supply chain disruption to force your hand. Start by identifying your biggest inventory risks today and build your buffers where they count. You don’t need to abandon lean principles—you just need to be smarter about resilience. Make inventory work for your business, not against it, and watch uptime and customer trust grow.