Chapter 9: Inventory Management Flashcards
(104 cards)
Inventory management
The planning and controlling of inventories to meet the competitive priorities of the organization
Lot sizing
A main part of inventory management
The determination of how frequently and in what quantity to order inventory
Lot size
The quantity of an inventory item that management either buys from a supplier or manufactures via internal processes
Level of inventory is determined by
Difference between input flow rate and output flow rate (latter both to customers and to scrap)
Pressures that incentivize small inventories
- cost of capital
- storage and holding costs
- taxes, insurance, and shrinkage
Inventory holding cost
Aka inventory carrying cost
Cost of capital for inventory + variable cost of keeping items on hand (storage, handling, taxes etc…)
Generally stated as % of inventory value
Cost of capital (for inventory)
Opportunity cost of investing in inventory relative to the expected return on assets of similar risk
Generally weighted average cost of capital
Usually the largest component of inventory holding cost
Storage and handling Inventory holding costs
Incurred when a firm could use the storage space and labor productively in some other way
Forms of shrinkage
Pilferage
Obsolescence
Deterioration
If these rates are high a large inventory may be unwise
Pressures that incentivize holding large inventories
- customer service
- ordering cost
- setup cost
- labor and equipment utilization
- transportation cost
- payments to suppliers
Ordering cost
The cost of preparing a purchase order for a supplier or production order for manufacturing
Same regardless of order size so cost efficient to do large orders
Technologies may reduce these costs
Setup cost
Cost involved in changing over a machine or workspace to produce a different item
Again, incentivizes larger production runs for fewer changeovers
Technologies may increase flexibility and lower setup costs
How can holding large inventory increase labor productivity and facility utilization?
- fewer number of set ups (which decrease overall utilization)
- reduced cost of rescheduling production due to lack of inventory
- stabilizes output rate for cyclical or seasonal items
Quantity discount
Drop in price per unit when order is sufficiently large
What relationship does inventory have with working capital?
Because inventory is financed by working capital, increasing inventory increases the need for working capital
Accounting inventory categories
Raw materials (RM)
Work-in-process (WIP)
Finished goods (FG)
Independent demand items
Items for which demand is influenced by market conditions and is not related to the inventory decisions for any other item held in stock or produced
Finished goods
(Wholesale and retail merchandise, service support inventory, product and replacement part distribution, maintenance repair and operating supplies
MRO supplies
Maintenance, repair, and operating supplies
Items that do not become part of the final service or product
Estimating demand for independent demand items
Forecasting
Dependent demand items
Items whose required quantity varies with the production of other items held in the firms inventory. (Are required as components)
Raw materials
Work in process
Demand is calculated, not forecasted
Operational inventory categories
Cycle
Safety stock
Anticipation
Pipeline
Identified conceptually, not physically
Cycle inventory
The portion of total inventory that varies directly with lot size
Given:
- lot size varies directly with elapsed time between orders
- the longer between orders the larger the cycle inventory must be
Inventory at it’s highest at the beginning of the interval (when new lot arrives) and lowest at the end (just before new lot arrives)
Calculating average cycle inventory
= cycle inventory maximum / 2
(Because minimum is approximately 0 just before new lot arrives)
Formula only exact when demand is constant and uniform
Scrap losses may cause estimating errors
Safety stock inventory
Surplus inventory that a company holds to protect against uncertainties in demand, lead time, and supply changes