The COVID-19 pandemic and related supply chain issues demonstrate the importance of effective inventory management, control, and analysis of this business lifeline. Inventory management is all about having the right items on hand at the right time to meet customer demand while controlling costs and minimizing waste and loss. Companies with best-in-class inventory management practices don’t guess how much stock to buy, and they keep a steady flow of raw materials, work-in-progress items, and finished goods moving from manufacturing to consumer, over a variety of distribution channels. Inventory control is a part of the inventory management process. It is the daily activity of managing stock within the warehouse. Inventory control activities include receiving, storing, and transferring stock, as well as tracking and fulfilling orders and returns. Inventory analysis helps you determine the right amount of stock to keep on-hand to fill demand while avoiding spending too much on inventory storage. This course will focus on “The Big 3” tools that best-in-class financial leaders use to sustain enhanced growth and profitability: inventory management, control, and analysis. These will allow companies to stay on top of trends in inventory management, understand the drivers behind them, establish and follow a state-of-the-art inventory control system, and master inventory analysis skills.
Learning Objectives
- Identify how effective inventory management procedures can affect internal controls over financial reporting in general and inventory in particular
- Identify the differences between inventory management vs. inventory control
- Identify inventory analysis methods and KPIs that are most effective, understandable, and can be effectively applied
- Identify the synergies between inventory management and supply chain management
- Use real-time data analytics to make decisions that can create a more customer-centric business model and minimize costs while boosting efficiency
- Discover from an inventory perspective, how becoming more data-driven allows businesses to make better demand forecasts, move toward just-in-time inventory replenishment and get and provide near-real-time updates on where supplies or shipments are and when they'll arrive at their destinations
- Identify inventory management trends for retailers, warehouses, and the optimization of the supply chain
Major Topics
- Inventory management vs. inventory control
- Inventory analysis methods and KPIs
- Top inventory management trends
- Inventory analysis: methods and KPIs
- Inventory management trends for retailers
- Inventory management and supply chain management
- Top trends in warehouse management
- Supply chain inventory optimization
