Verified Document

Inventory Management The Raw Materials, Case Study

In order of their estimated importance. Consequently, 'A' items are very important, 'B' items are important, and 'C' items are marginally important. The organization gives 'A' rating to their best customers since they yield the highest revenue. Sales managers serve them. 'B' rated customers (with more attention) would then follow and lastly 'C' customers whom warrants less attention and are served accordingly. Advantages of ABC Analysis

ABC analysis provides the materials manager with opportunity to exercise selective control. Thus, the manager will only focus on a few items despite a possible confrontation with a numerous stores of items. When the material manager resorts to concentrate on 'A' Class items only, he is in a better position to control inventories and show tangible outcomes in a short span of time. ABC analysis has helped in reducing clerical costs. Such analysis when applied to various organizations has resulted into better planning and improved inventory turnover (Swamidas, 2000, p. 32). The analysis dictate that the three class items, a, B, and C. ca never enjoy equal attention since it will be worthless and uneconomical. Apart from the costly nature of equal analysis and attention to the three class items, concentrating on all the items will have a diffused effect on all the items, irrespective of the precedence.

Customers who buy the largest quantities of the products are the least in numbers, hence account for the biggest portion of the company's revenue. 'B' customers would then follow characterized by relatively larger number though only manages smaller portions of the product at a given period compared to group 'A'. However, they still manage to catch the attention of the sale assistants who occasionally serve those (Swamidas, 2000).

The customers belonging to group 'A' enjoy not only the benefits of large scale purchases but also most attention given to them by managers of the company with special treatment given to the because only the sales managers serve them. They also enjoy special privileges given their strong connection with the management of the company with majority of them belonging to social class similar to that of managers and senior executives of the company. In essence, economic power displays out in terms of quantities that a given individual will purchase at a given time (Swamidas, 2000). Customers belonging to group 'C' constitute the majority of the buyers though minority in terms of quantities purchase after a given period. Due to their meager income, they do not purchase products in large quantities. Hence, do not enjoy special treatment as well as privileges contrary to group 'A' and 'B'. Customers belonging to category 'C' purchase the products in very low quantities.

Economic Order Quantity

Economic order quantity (EOQ) is the order quantity used to minimize the total holding and ordering costs annually. The Economic Order Quantity model gives a good indication of whether or not current order quantities are reasonable. The following are assumptions regarding the economic order quantity: The Economic Order Quantity (EOQ) is relatively uniform and has known demand rate, it has fixed item cost, fixed ordering and holding cost, and a constant lead-time. The model is applicable when the demand for an item shows a constant or almost constant rate when the entire quantity that is ordered arrives at one point in time. According to David Anderson and Dennis Jay, the average inventory is half the maximum inventory or 1/2 Q. During the production run, inventory buildup occurs and constant depletion rate occurs during the non-production period. Therefore, the average inventory would be one-half the maximum inventory. However, the production lot size Q. In this inventory system, does not go into inventory at one point in time. Hence, the inventory will hardly reach a level of Q. Overall; the Economic Order Quantity represents the optimum order quantity a company should rightfully hold in its inventory considering the set cost of production, rate of demand among other variables.

Formula of Economic Order Quantity (EOQ)

Different formulas already developed for calculating the Economic Order Quantity (EOQ). The following formula is applicable in the calculation of EOQ.

A = Demand for the year

Cp = Cost to place a single order

Ch = Cost to hold one unit inventory for a year

Alternatively,

Where:

S = Setup costs

D = Demand rate

P = Production cost

I = Interest rate (considered an opportunity cost, so the risk-free rate can be used

Inventory Model with planned Shortages

In several circumstances, short ages are undesirable, especially from economic point-of-view. The shortage results mainly from economic disparities mainly due to class struggles. The well endowed in the society enjoy special privileges in the society as opposed to the masses who lack economic power and resources. Hence, they have limited choices to make compared to the high-end caliber who have the whole world with them. The model order in the section takes into accounts the type of shortage called backorder.
In a supplying electronics, a company maintains a proper management system for its inventory. The company manufactures and supplies many electronics for home consumption and distributes the rest to outside countries. If such a company is a monumental, company and controls a large part of the electronic market in the world. According to Tommey in his publication, changes in the market practices changed to a great level the methods companies use to manage inventory. The current market trends dictate that the customer is the centre of the industry (Tommey, 2000, p. 42). In electronics business, the company faces much competition from many other established electronics dealers, and producers. Some of these companies have bases in other countries but still export electronics to Thailand, and many other countries in which, different companies have potential to dominate the market.

In the management of stock, the company has to maintain minimal stock since the electronic sector is undergoing exceptionally rapid changes. Technology is a key factor facilitating this change. Some companies experienced this when there was a shift in demand of market preference of televisions. New technology created a demand for digital televisions. While inventory in the form of raw materials stored was applicable to develop new digital televisions, the finished televisions posed a threat. The company had to incur losses at the end since even changing the made televisions from analog to digital called for more work, which needed resources that were not initially expected (Tommey, 2000, p. 42). These resources the company drew from profits, and money initially budgeted for different activities other than renovating already finished goods.

While this is vital, it is a necessity for the country to maintain buffer inventory, which should help in managing to cater for unseen market forces. The main aim of such a management principle according to Tommey is to avoid a situation where the company might go out of business due to lack of stock. This will create room for other competitors to dominate the company's former market. If the company goes out of business for some time, it will be hard to reclaim its former position, as customers will start to question the credibility (Tommey, 2000, p. 42). The company will lose chances to make a profit during that period, create a market gap, and make even loyal customers question the quality of goods. The most imperative part of this principle of inventory management is to maintain, and manage inventory as raw materials.

Inventory management in supplying for a wholesale company that handles electronic goods is at times hard because of the unpredictability of the market. Unlike other goods, electronic goods are not repetitive. Customers buy these goods once and stay for quite a long period without buying another as the need to buy another arises only if it damages or the owner loses. This makes it hard to determine the need for goods at a certain place due to low predictability. Lack of effective inventory management will see the company fail to enjoy economies of scale. Such a company according to a journal by Cannella called 'On the Bullwhip Avoidance Phase: supply chain collaboration and order smoothing' will incur extra costs in supplying (Cannella, & Ciancimino, 2010, p. 22). The company cannot risk supplying goods in bulk to one place, as either this will see the goods lack customers, or the company forced to ferry the goods to another destination, which will lead to incurring extra transport costs. This makes it mandatory for the company to haven inventory management plan as it acts a draft to business success (Cannella, & Ciancimino, 2010, p. 22).

Inventory in the company comprises a classification of many items necessary in running a company. Raw materials, plants and machines to work in progress are all part of inventory and are the main factors that contribute to success of the company (Cannella, & Ciancimino, 2010, p. 22). While most of these are tangible, the company needs to strike a balance, because of existence of intangible part of the company who play…

Sources used in this document:
References

Anderson, D.R. (2011). An introduction to management science: quantitative approaches to decision making. Mason, OH, Cengage South-Western.

Anil, Kumar S, and N. Suresh. Production and Operations Management. New Delhi: New

Age International (P) Ltd. Publishers, 2006. Print.

Bragg, S.M. (2011). Inventory best practices. Hoboken, NJ, Wiley.
Cirp International Seminar on Manufacturing Systems, Mitsuishi, M., UEDA, K., & KIMURA, F. (2008). Manufacturing systems and technologies for the new frontier the 41st CIRP Conference on Manufacturing Systems, May 26-28, 2008, Tokyo, Japan. London, Springer. http://public.eblib.com/EBLPublic/PublicView.do?ptiID=372230.
Plenert, G.J. (2007). Reinventing lean introducing lean management into the supply chain. Burlington, Mass, ButterworthHeinemann.http://www.engineeringvillage.com/controller/servlet/OpenURL?genre=book&isbn=9780123705174.
Hoboken, N.J., Wiley. http://www.books24x7.com/marc.asp?bookid=43303.
Cite this Document:
Copy Bibliography Citation

Related Documents

Inventory Management Is an Ongoing Process as
Words: 1455 Length: 4 Document Type: Term Paper

Inventory management is an ongoing process (as opposed to a project which has a beginning and an end) of monitoring the constant flow of stock keeping units (SKUs) into and out of supply. The goal is to prevent the inventory from becoming too high (cost), or so low that the operations of the company are in jeopardy (service levels.) (Barcodes, 2011) Elemental management of inventory requires balancing the three key aspects

Raw Materials: Raw Materials Refer to Supplies
Words: 510 Length: 2 Document Type: Essay

Raw materials: Raw materials refer to supplies used for final production. They are usually demand dependent because the higher the demand for a certain item, the greater will be the demand for raw materials. For example: steel used during car manufacturing: if the demand for new cars rise, there will be higher demand for steel and vice versa. This is however not a reflection on the entire steel industry but

Logistics of Inventory Management a
Words: 3259 Length: 11 Document Type: Term Paper

21). Conversely, Michman and Greco (1999) point out that, "Some department stores have failed because many have provided a stale and unexciting physical environment to customers. Another reason has been that some department stores have been unable to implement effective inventory management systems, thereby lowering costs to either match or at least approach the prices offered by discounters" (p. 4). Effectively managing inventory also requires the ability to monitor current

Inventory Management in the Automotive Used Parts Industry
Words: 3150 Length: 10 Document Type: Term Paper

Automotive Used Parts Industry Each model associates with the development of new automotive technologies thus making it easier for the new car buyers to save massive amount financial resources. Inventory management relates to the specification of shape and percentage of stocked goods/automotive used-parts. . Inventory management refers to a collection of interrelated processes with the inclusion of a full cycle from supply chain management to demand forecasting, through inventory control and

Strategies for Success in Inventory Management
Words: 1887 Length: 6 Document Type: Research Paper

Efficiency in the Supply Chain and Inventory Management Explain the purpose of using stock-outs to control inventory 'Stock-outs' is a method aimed at reducing production flow times and response times from the company to consumers (Fleisch, & Tellkamp, 2005). Based on the name itself, this inventory control method holds that Stone Horse Supply Company will order products only if they are required for manufacturing or shipping. The company may order an

Managing Uncertainty in Production Planning:
Words: 3299 Length: 10 Document Type: Multiple Chapters

Research Objectives and Scope The main objective of the research then relates closely to the research problem. It is to research the problem of uncertainty as it manifests in the global business environment. Specific issues to be investigated include supply chain management and its related uncertainties, the production process itself and uncertainties related to it, as well as the post-production phase and market uncertainties that are related to it. Time is also

Sign Up for Unlimited Study Help

Our semester plans gives you unlimited, unrestricted access to our entire library of resources —writing tools, guides, example essays, tutorials, class notes, and more.

Get Started Now