Managing inventory effectively is a critical challenge for businesses, balancing the need to meet customer demands while avoiding costly overstocking. Inventory Managementaddresses this intricate balancing act, offering a comprehensive toolkit for maintaining optimal inventory levels. This course delves into essential topics like setting effective inventory policies, mastering materials planning, and streamlining purchasing and supply chain processes. Participants will learn about advanced techniques for receiving, storing, and shipping, as well as how to maintain accurate records and improve warehouse efficiencies. The course not only tackles the classic inventory management strategies but also introduces cutting-edge approaches to ensure businesses can thrive in a dynamic market environment, all while safeguarding against the common pitfalls of inventory mismanagement.
Learning Objectives
Upon successful completion of this course, participants will be able to:
Chapter 1
Identify the types of inventory, and the need for reorder points, safety stock, and economic order quantities.
Chapter 2
State the manner in which inventory can be incorporated into a company's competitive strategy and the situations in which certain strategies should be employed.
Chapter 3
Identify the policies that should be used to control inventory, and the situations in which they should be used.
Chapter 4
State the types of forecasting variations that can be used, how forecasts can be incorrect, and what can be done to mitigate these effects.
Chapter 5
Note the various costs related to suppliers, how a spend management system can be created, and the issues related to volume purchase discounts.
Chapter 6
Identify the receiving techniques that can be used to minimize inventory damage, organize incoming deliveries, create cross docking transactions, and similar issues.
Chapter 7
State the types of equipment used in putaway and picking transactions, as well as their advantages and disadvantages.
Chapter 8
Identify the components of the major production management systems, as well as the techniques used to improve the flow of inventory through the production process.
Chapter 9
State the methods used to enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of the shipping function.
Chapter 10
State who identifies obsolete inventory and how such inventory is located.
Chapter 11
Identify the methods used in the engineering area to minimize the number of parts, improve the production process, and generally reduce the investment in inventory.
Chapter 12
Recognize the issues that can reduce inventory record accuracy.
Chapter 13
State the situations in which the periodic and perpetual inventory systems should be used, and issues related to physical inventory and cycle counts.
Chapter 14
State the impact on inventory and costs of how the supply chain is managed.
Chapter 15
Identify the methods used to increase the efficiency of the warehouse.
Chapter 16
State the storage characteristics of inventory, as well as the situations in which various types of storage systems can be used.
Chapter 17
Identify the steps used to plan the warehouse layout, as well as the impacts of various issues on the final layout and sizing.
Chapter 18
Recognize the key inventory measurements and the circumstances under which they are used.
Major Topics
The Nature of Inventory
Inventory Strategy
Inventory Policies
Materials Planning and Forecasting
Purchasing Activities
Inventory Receiving
Putaway and Picking
The Impact of Production on Inventory
Inventory Shipping
Obsolete Inventory
Inventory Measurements
