The importance of inventory management is to ensure that the firm has inventory to meet operational needs, but does not carry excessive inventory, thus resulting in the goal of carrying just enough inventory to minimize holding cost and maximize cash flow. The tools that can be used to manage inventory include inventory turnover, days of supply, and aging of inventory, where one can see how fast the firm turns inventory over, how many days of supply then firm currently holds in order to determine re order points, and what is the age of the inventory to determine how well it is moving and being turned. The most important skills of inventory management is planning. The reason for this is to ensure that the firm has enough inventory to meed demand and forecast one must be able to plan for the future, as there are waiting periods in which in takes for the inventory to arrive, as a result one must be proactive an plan ahead.