just-in-time

noun

ˈjəst-in-ˈtīm 

often attributive

: a manufacturing strategy wherein parts are produced or delivered only as needed

Examples of just-in-time in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Now, computer vision systems detect errors and software predicts equipment failures, pausing production and scheduling just-in-time maintenance. —IEEE Spectrum, 19 Feb. 2026

Students have been remarkably successful in this just-in-time approach. —Tammi Marshall, San Diego Union-Tribune, 18 Feb. 2026

This allows Crystal International to optimize inventory management and enable just-in-time delivery—for instance, fabric transfer time is cut by up to 75 percent using the system. —Jennifer Bringle, Sourcing Journal, 30 Jan. 2026

California’s just-in-time Christmas gift — a pair of early-season storms that blanketed the Sierra Nevada — delivered a welcome boost to the state’s snowpack, though water managers Tuesday at Phillips Station found the first survey totals below where the snowpack stood a year ago. —Chaewon Chung, Sacbee.com, 30 Dec. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1977, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for just-in-time

• aforetime
• allozyme
• anytime
• christmastime
• cybercrime
• dinnertime
• guggenheim
• isozyme
• lysozyme
• maritime
• mesenchyme
• overtime