Approaches to Inventory Management

Course Objectives

To develop understanding of current best practice in category management. To demonstrate the project management of its introduction as a procurement strategy.

Course Contents

Objectives of inventory control and materials management
 
The holding costs of inventory 
Total cost of ownership models of stock holding
Stock valuation systems (FIFO, LIFO etc)
Stock checking and perpetual inventory management systems
 
Aggregate inventory management
Stock categorisation,
Applying ABC analysis, rationale, methodology, other classification characteristics
Managing critical and ‘must have’ parts with special characteristics
 
Dependent demand inventory management techniques
What is dependant and independent demand
MRP I and II
JIT (including Kanban)
EDI / E-commerce techniques for inventory control
 
Independent demand stock control models
Re-order point control model for managing MRO items
Fixed quantity, variable interval systems.
Using the Economic order quantity and economic batch quantity models to determine stock levels
Fixed interval variable quantity systems (scheduling systems)
Stock levels and IT
 
Determining and managing customer service levels
Understanding customer satisfaction and service requirements throughout the supply chain
Statistical methods for determining safety stock and service level
 
Inventory reduction techniques
The main reasons for holding stocks
An overview of techniques to remove the obstacles to inventory reduction
Consignment stocking
Pipeline inventory stocking
Vendor managed inventory
Direct to line supply
Cross docking
 
The role of purchasing in inventory reduction
Lead time management and reduction
The flywheel effect of “pull” operations
Supportive supplier relationships
Paying attention to logistics

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Who Should Attend

Delegates from inventory rich environments with responsibility for managing inventory and for setting up inventory reduction programmes.
 
Attendees will gain an overview of inventory management and its importance in modern day supply chain management approaches. They will recognise the impact of inventory on operational costs and have a sound understanding of the main techniques used by organisations to minimise this impact whilst preserving world class levels of service.

Duration

A 2-day single manned course.
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