Category Archive

Inventory for dependent items The role of Inventory is to provide a buffer that recognises variability in demand for items and the lead times required to meet those demands. Variability in supply and its lead times is also a factor, due to disruptions through supply chains. The disruptions in supply chains are likely to continue, especially with the influence of … Read More

ABC inventory approach Inventory is too often considered as one lump of cost, rather than as a collection of individual stock keeping units (SKUs), each with their own pattern of demand and supply. To provide some differentiation between high and low selling items, a familiar process is to group SKUs into ABC groups. This is based on observations by the … Read More

Cost of holding inventory There is not a ‘right’ decision about the level of inventories that work best for your business. However there is a need to know the cost and potential for cost reduction from decisions about inventories. To cover for unplanned events, an organisation can reduce its total operational costs by holding a calculated ‘safety stock’ in excess … Read More

Slowing sales and rising inventories Reports concerning retail product sales in various countries indicate a slowing rate of sales growth as consumers are again able to access services. For all businesses in product supply chains, this will provide a challenge for managing inventories. An example of the challenge is a major online non-food retailer in Australia which has experienced a … Read More

A major change could be happening We generally have the assumption that things are always changing, but there are epochs (a particular period of time in history) when a more dramatic change occurs. This affects the outlook of governments, such that geopolitical and commercial decisions are made from a different perspective. And the world could be entering one of those … Read More