Inventory management challenges. An effective inventory policy is a good theoretical objective, but at a practical level, it becomes difficult to achieve. This is due to senior management’s views concerning the role of inventory and the knowledge and skills of supply chain and logistics professionals to structure a decision making process for an inventory policy. An example of the challenges … Read More
The long tail of Inventory requires a good structure
Long tail of inventory. Currently, media articles are discussing the potential changes to business and the wider community from the implementation of new technologies. But fewer discuss the potential changes from implementing different business models caused by changes in markets. A recent comment noted that order sizes on Asian fabric mills have decreased by between 20 and 30 percent over … Read More
New technologies and inventory planning applications
Technologies and planning. The hype surrounding new technologies has identified that many tasks will become automated and jobs are at risk. This will include supply chains, but how long until there is concrete evidence of job replacement actually occurring? Recently, Sears, a US based retailer announced that all items sold through its stores will have an RFID tag attached for … Read More
Inventory Planning is more than figures in a formula
Uncertainty and risks. Increasing response to orders (that is reducing lead times) is apparently becoming the requirement of buyers, from consumers to retailers to tier 1 suppliers and back through supply chains. If this situation is true (and I have doubts about the actual situation vs the hype), then having sufficient inventories at critical nodes in your supply chains will … Read More
Managing inventory, supply chains and risk management
Why are inventories increasing? The risks in your organisation’s supply network can be reduced in two ways. At the strategic level, supply chains and operational processes can be changed, but to achieve this outcome takes time. The more likely approach is for Logisticians to manage capacity and inventory. However, in the era of globalisation, the opportunity to manage capacity has … Read More