In industrial or business cases, purchasing and procurement are significant functions. Usually, a procurement plan is prepared based on certain predictions of consumption patterns or demand. When this plan is implemented, the benefit is obtained corresponding to forecast accuracy. In the available literature, forecasting accuracy is frequently discussed. A need is established to link forecasting accuracy with forecasting expenditures. After an explicit inclusion of the forecasting expenditure, this book describes inventory planning for procurement and production. FEATURES Discusses forecasting expenditure in detail Provides an analysis of reduction and increase in forecasting expenditures Highlights advanced concepts that include procurement inventory, production planning, and priority planning in detail Examines an approach in relation to the inclusion of an explicit cost of forecasting Covers total cost formulation, modified total cost, relevant index, threshold value, and cost of forecasting in a comprehensive manner with the help of examples Inventory Planning with Forecasting Expenditure is useful for undergraduate and postgraduate students in engineering and management and has potential for elective and supplementary core courses.

Inventory Planning with Innovation: A Cost Focus discusses inventory planning concepts with major emphasis on innovation to reduce cost in a single volume. Provides an understanding of innovation efforts and linking it with inventory planning in reducing cost. Offers various factors influencing innovation efforts, knowledge of investment or expenditure that might be estimated before starting the innovation efforts, purchase inventory, and the manufacturing inventory. Covers important concepts including innovation efforts, strategic period, procurement inventory, total cost estimation, production inventory, related total cost planning, multiple products, multiple items procurements, and multiple items manufacture. This reference is primarily written for senior undergraduate, graduate students, and professionals in the field of industrial engineering, production engineering, and manufacturing science.

This practical book covers the forecasting- and inventory control methods used in commercial, retail and manufacturing companies. Colin Lewis explains the theory and practice of current demand forecasting methods, the links between forecasts produced as a result of analysing demand data and the various methods by which this information, together with cost information on stocked items, is used to establish the controlling parameters of the most commonly used inventory control systems. The demand forecasting section of the book concentrates on the family of short-term forecasting models based on the exponentially weighted average and its many variants and also a group of medium-term forecasting models based on a time series, curve fitting approach. The inventory control sections investigate the re-order level policy and re-order cycle policy and indicate how these two processes can be operated at minimum cost while offering a high level of customer service.

Chapter 1: The Foundations of Inventory Management Characters: Jammy (Expert) and Canny (Enthusiast) Jammy: Hey there, Canny! I'm excited to share some valuable insights about inventory management with you today. It's a crucial aspect of any business, and I'm sure you'll find it fascinating. Canny: Hi, Jammy! I'm really eager to learn more. So, what exactly is inventory management? Jammy: Great question, Canny! Inventory management involves efficiently handling a company's stock of goods to ensure smooth operations. It's all about striking the right balance between having enough products to meet customer demand while avoiding overstocking that ties up unnecessary capital. Canny: I see. So, why is it essential for businesses? Jammy: Well, effective inventory management brings several benefits. First and foremost, it helps businesses maintain customer satisfaction. When you have products readily available, you can fulfill orders promptly, leading to happy customers. Moreover, it reduces holding costs, which are the expenses associated with storing excess inventory. Canny: That makes sense. How do companies decide how much inventory to carry? Jammy: Good question! There are various factors that influence this decision. One crucial aspect is demand forecasting. By analyzing historical sales data and market trends, businesses can estimate future demand and plan their inventory accordingly. Canny: Is there a specific method for managing different types of products? Jammy: Absolutely! Not all products are equal. Businesses often categorize their inventory based on demand and value. This categorization helps them apply appropriate management techniques. For instance, high-value items may require closer monitoring and tighter controls. Canny: Interesting! Are there any popular inventory control models? Jammy: Yes, indeed! One of the widely used models is the Economic Order Quantity (EOQ) model. It calculates the optimal order quantity that minimizes total inventory costs, including ordering and holding costs. Canny: Is there any way to handle unpredictable demand? Jammy: Definitely! Safety stock comes into play here. It's the buffer inventory kept to tackle unexpected spikes in demand or delays in supply. Safety stock acts as an insurance against stockouts. Canny: That sounds important. How can technology help with inventory management? Jammy: Technology plays a significant role in modern inventory management. Businesses use specialized software to automate various processes, such as order processing, tracking, and forecasting. This streamlines operations and enhances accuracy. Canny: Thanks for sharing all this valuable information, Jammy. It's been really enlightening. Jammy: You're welcome, Canny! Inventory management is an ever-evolving field, and there's always something new to learn. I'm glad I could help satisfy your thirst for knowledge! Key Takeaways: Inventory management is about efficiently handling a company's stock of goods to meet customer demand while minimizing holding costs. Demand forecasting is crucial for determining the right inventory levels. Categorizing inventory based on demand and value helps tailor management techniques. The Economic Order Quantity (EOQ) model is widely used for inventory control. Safety stock acts as a buffer against unexpected fluctuations in demand or supply. Technology, such as inventory management software, plays a significant role in streamlining processes and improving accuracy.

Inaccurate forecasts can be costly for company operations, in terms of stock-outs and lost sales, or over-stocking, while not meeting service level targets. The forecasting literature, often disjoint from the needs of the forecast users, has focused on providing optimal models in terms of likelihood and various accuracy metrics. However, there is evidence that this does not always lead to better inventory performance, as often the translation between forecast errors and inventory results is not linear. In this study, we consider an approach to parametrising forecasting models by directly considering appropriate inventory metrics and the current inventory policy. We propose a way to combine the competing multiple inventory objectives, i.e. meeting demand, while eliminating excessive stock, and use the resulting cost function to identify inventory optimal parameters for forecasting models. We evaluate the proposed parametrisation against established alternatives and demonstrate its performance on real data. Furthermore, we explore the connection between forecast accuracy and inventory performance and discuss the extent to which the former is an appropriate proxy of the latter.

Master and apply both the technical and behavioral skills you need to succeed in any inventory management role or function! Now, there’s an authoritative and comprehensive guide to best-practice inventory management in any organization. Authored by world-class experts in collaboration with the Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals (CSCMP), this text illuminates planning, organizing, controlling, directing, motivating and coordinating all the activities used to efficiently control product flow. The Definitive Guide to Inventory Management covers long-term strategic decisions; mid-term tactical decisions; and even short-term operational decisions. Topics discussed include: Basic inventory management goals, roles, concepts, purposes, and terminology Key inventory management elements, processes, and interactions Principles/strategies for establishing efficient and effective inventory flows Using technology in inventory planning and management New approaches to inventory reduction: postponement, vendor-managed inventories, cross-docking, and quick response systems Trade-offs between inventory and transportation costs, including carrying costs Requirements and challenges of global inventory management Best practices, metrics, and frameworks for assessing inventory management performance

The past few years have seen the utilization of integrated software packages (ERP type) in numerous enterprises. We can thus speak of a large-scale diffusion of the integrated enterprise resource management approach, which induces a growing interest in mastering techniques and approaches put in place in the production planning field, notably collaborative sales and operations planning, master production scheduling, material requirements planning, and implementation control of the plans established. This book adopts this perspective, focusing on the techniques and approaches that contend with decision-making for short- and medium-term planning, and short-term production and inventory control. The application examples that accompany the presentation of each technique would allow students to acquire a good understanding of the links between the concepts, techniques, and their use in practice. For the practice exercises and problems at the end of each chapter, students can deepen their grasp of the role played by production and inventory planning and control in a manufacturing company’s supply chain management, sharpening their skills in applying : The decision support tools and techniques that are implemented in the production planning domain; and The relevant information in decision-making situations. In other words, this book would allow students to obtain the knowledge and know-how that are essential in the competitiveness of a manufacturing firm.

The Service Parts Planning (SPP) solution was developed by SAP in a joint effort with Caterpillar and Ford, to address the specific planning problems of service parts. This book explains the processes, structures, and functions of this new solution and is targeted for project members and project managers who are involved in an implementation of SAP SPP or for users who want to gain a better understanding of the software.