Manufacturers that use just-in-time manufacturing systems coordinate closely with suppliers to ensure that materials and supplies arrive just before they are needed in the manufacturing process. While just-in-time systems can offer major advantages in terms of inventory costs, they must be carefully managed. If a firm found that its just-in-time system was badly managed, leading to frequent manufacturing delays due to missing parts, this would represent a(n) __________ in a SWOT analysis.
A. weakness
B. opportunity
C. threat
D. strength
E. business mission

SWOT analysis involves an assessment of the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and opportunities within a business or an individual. For a business, swot analysis may focus on a particular product or the entire organization. The objective of performing a swot analysis helps a party identify and work on its weak and threat areas while taking advantage of its opportunity and strong points.

In swot, weakness represents the areas that prevent an entity from performing at its best. A business needs to improve its weak area to remain competitive in the industry. Weakness may be in the form of a high cost of production compared to industry, high debts levels, or high employee turnover. In this case, the firm has a weakness in managing its JIT inventory system. The result is frequent stock out, which is causing losses.