Today’s logistics professionals and fleet owners know the importance of remaining flexible when faced with uncertainties and unexpected challenges. However, 2025 seems set to be especially unsettled, featuring many factors outside the affected parties’ direct control. The circumstances may require them to explore just-in-case inventory management, even if they primarily use just-in-time strategies.
Read also: Tariffs, Trade Wars, and Supply Chain Diversification Strategies
JIT vs. JIC
Just-in-time (JIT) supply chain approaches require parties to coordinate their raw-material orders with production schedules. This strategy can improve efficiency while reducing waste because parties receive supplies and make products as necessary. Demand forecasting is an essential part of successful JIT deployment, but those who do it well can save on inventory storage costs.
Challenges such as unreliable suppliers and equipment failures can become particularly detrimental to entities using this approach, necessitating trustworthy partners and technologies such as predictive analytics and smart sensors to detect machine abnormalities before they cause lengthy production delays. In contrast, a just-in-case (JIC) supply chain involves keeping large quantities of products available to increase the likelihood that businesses can cope with demand surges.
Companies may also create JIC networks if they have limited forecasting data. Such situations occur when they release wholly new products rather than just updating existing items. Additionally, abundant marketplace competition can complicate demand forecasting, especially for items that do not inspire strong consumer loyalty.
Hand soap is a good example. Although people often choose favorites based on factors such as price, size, scent or format, most would probably not be too upset if they found their desired types out of stock during shopping trips. That is because there are dozens of other possibilities, including many that likely perform equally well or better than the unavailable products.
High inventory storage costs are the main disadvantage of JIC strategies. However, some logistics professionals may wish to balance JIT and JIC approaches, using the latter option for intensely and suddenly desirable products and continuing to use the just-in-time method for items that sell more predictably. Why might just-in-time inventory make sense in the modern marketplace?
Geopolitical Uncertainty
Global headlines warn that products may become more expensive or harder to find due to geopolitical unpredictability. The Trump administration’s tariffs are a significant driver and have sparked ongoing discussions among supply chain professionals.
Gregory D. DeYong is an associate professor of supply chain operations at Southern Illinois University Carbondale. When giving his perspectives on the announced tariffs in April 2025, DeYong acknowledged the fickle and lengthy nature of global trade negotiations. Although he expected them to cause volatility for consumers and businesses in the short term, this professional also clarified that not all tariff-related impacts would be negative.
DeYong specified that above-average levels of inbound and outbound freight associated with domestic manufacturing would benefit trucking and rail companies operating in the United States. Relatedly, producers will source more raw materials within the country, also benefitting the domestic entities that transport them.
Additionally, enterprises making goods within the United States will benefit as foreign-produced products become costlier. Those using a just-in-case inventory strategy can cater to consumers who suddenly want to buy essential or big-ticket items before tariffs take effect. That approach could also work well for producers of goods that enable self-sufficiency or emergency preparednesssuch as home canning sets. Consumers who worry about prolonged economic downturns may want those items so they can control their circumstances as much as possible.
DeYong also cited United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement compliance as a major supply chain benefit for applicable parties because it exempts those goods from increased tariffs affecting Mexico and Canada. Despite these anticipated advantages, uneasiness among consumers and industry professionals makes just-in-case inventory management viable for dealing with future demand surges. Even if supply chain managers do not wholly transition to it in their organizations, this strategy could prevent stockouts and disappointed customers.
Severe Weather and Natural Disasters
Many climate scientists believe that once-rare weather events will become more common, as has already happened in some parts of the world. Through thoughtful inventory planning and process improvements, manufacturers can mitigate some of the worst effects of the associated product demand spikes.
Some distribution center team members handle thousands of stock-keeping units and become more productive with automation and other enhancements. For example, high-density vertical storage systems optimize space. Robots bring goods to workers at ergonomic stations, preventing those employees from spending significant portions of each shift walking to retrieve goods. Then, they collectively contribute to increased output, making products available to customers eager to purchase them.
Severe weather and natural disasters create multiple challenges for supply chains. First, they cause sudden consumer urgency for products only purchased seasonally and not kept in bulk at home. Such was the case during California’s 2025 wildfires, when residents scrambled to buy masks, air purifiers and other supplies to keep themselves safer.
Additionally, severe weather and natural disasters can make infrastructure temporarily unusable due to downed trees, flooding or damage. Those conditions do not necessarily halt supply chains but pose ethical dilemmas for last-mile delivery drivers and their supervisors. In one example, a professional soccer player lost her home in a Los Angeles wildfire. Grimly, the last image of her residence was the delivery confirmation photo snapped by an Amazon driver.
That team member left the package at the address after officials had issued mandatory evacuation orders. The outcome illustrates how their situations may not allow them to comply with commands ordered for their safety — at least if they wish to stay employed.
Addressing the Unknown With Just-in-Case Inventory
Although tariffs, natural disasters and severe weather are not the only things that disrupt logistics networks, they represent several of the most notable and relevant factors to anticipate. A JIC supply chain allows professionals to prevent stockouts of in-demand items due to current conditions.
Some producers may opt to balance JIT and JIC strategies, such as prioritizing one method, except for specific products. Additionally, decision-makers should weigh whether the increased inventory costs associated with the JIC approach are less than the adverse consequences the company would experience due to prolonged product unavailability.
As news continued to develop concerning the Trump administration’s tariffs, the TACO acronym — Trump always chickens out — gained prominence in May 2025 after the leader made numerous threats and assertions, only to backpedal rapidly shortly afterward. Global trade parameters are far from settled, and logistics professionals should prepare for more upheaval. However, JIC inventory can reduce some of the inventory by ensuring companies have plenty of the items customers want or need most.
Similarly, this strategy can position brands as well-equipped to meet consumers’ needs during severe weather or natural disasters. Even better, fleet managers can protect their drivers and vehicles by encouraging people to stock up on emergency and survival products well before they need them. Accurately predicting disasters and weather is not always possible, but leaders operating JIC supply chains can accommodate people proactively, positioning themselves as well-prepared for future uncertainties.
Focusing on the Future
Change is one of the few things people can expect with certainty. Rather than feeling nervous about this reality, logistics professionals should focus on what they can influence, including potentially adopting JIC strategies for some products. Additionally, they should stay informed of ongoing developments and remain open-minded when planning their responses.
