P5-6 Analyzing inventories (LO 5-7)

Danaher Corporation manufactures a variety of products, including electronic measurement instruments and network communications products, water quality measurement systems, and medical and dental instruments. Selected financial statement data and related performance indicators follow.

Danaher Corporation
($ in millions)	2012	2013	2014
Sales	$18,260.4	$19,118.0	$19,913.8
Cost of goods sold	8,846.1	9,160.4	9,471.3
Average inventory	1,797.4	1,798.5	1,807.5
Selected performance measures:
Gross profit (%)	51.6%	52.1%	52.4%
Inventory turnover ratio	4.92	5.09	5.24

Required:

How well did Danaher manage its inventories over the three-year period?