ABSTRACT
In the 1970s, the seller’s market changed to a buyer’s market in many branches of the capital goods market. As a consequence, the weighting of entrepreneurial objectives (see Section 1.3.1) changed from stressing best possible capacity utilization to a focus on short delivery lead times. At the same time, however, companies had to avoid physical inventory. Inventory proved to be increasingly risky, because technological advances turned goods into nonsellers often overnight. Thus, short lead time became a strategy toward success in entrepreneurial competition.
