Week 8 Discussion: Inventory Management

CO9: Evaluate the impact of Inventory management systems on a supply chain network's effectiveness

Discussion Prompt:

For this week's Discussion, chose one of the following to research and discuss (partially lifted from Sanders, p. 188):

1. Identify an example of inventory in your own life. Estimate how much it costs you to hold this inventory. Estimate the "ordering cost." How often do you replenish this inventory, and which of the inventory policies does this most closely resemble?

2. Think of a service you recently used. How might this service be restructured to create service inventory as in the example of Zoots (Sanders, p. 188)? What would they have to do? What advantages would the company gain, and how would they better serve their customers?

3. Find at least one business example of a fixed-order quantity system versus a fixed-period quantity system. What are their differences? Which do you think is better, and why?

4. Provide an example of ABC classification in a business you are familiar with. What would be the A inventory items versus B and C? What ordering policies would you use for each of these?

5. Explain the primary reasons for carrying inventory. Chose a company that you believe has mastered each of the primary reasons for carrying inventory. Research a company using "Cross-docking" as a method for reducing inventories. Explain how their Cross-docking system works, what the challenges are, and what the advantages are.