Supply Chain Management

Arcelus, F. J., J. E. Rowcroft. 1991. Small order transportation costs in inventory control. Logist. Transportation Rev. 27(1) 3-13.

The customers, wholesalers and retailers may order in large quantities with the expectation that they will receive a greater allocation of products that are in short supply. The impact on the supply chain is significant as the forecasted demand is greatly, and unrealistically, increased with these inflated orders. Eventually orders disappear and cancellations pour in, making it impossible for the manufacturer to determine the real demand for its products

Planning and Forecasting is a vital function of management especially as it is related to inventory management. Planning has four processes associated with it. They are establishing goals, formulating strategies, implementing the plan and evaluating its success. The planning process of inventory will assist the organization choose the correct inventory system resulting in reduced costs and increased efficiency. For any business, having large amounts of inventory could prove to be expensive. In most company’s the management team will forecast sales on a monthly basis in order to keep enough inventories to fill customer orders in a timely fashion but not have an overflow of stock. There are various types of

The explanation for the answer to the given question is as follows: Hence, the current stock available is 180 units. To find out the probability of the company running out of the stock of 180 units within a time of next 3 weeks, let’s take ' z ' as a value that should be checked in the standard deviation table in order to find the probability...

4. Assume that Davidson has reviewed its inventory classifications, and that this item has been reclassified “B” and that it now managed by periodic review. Review occurs once per quarter. With a 90 percent cycle-service level, the proper order

Hello and welcome to our review of the Amazing Stockpiling Challenge by Dan F. Sullivan.

There is Change in the Carrying costs, total inventory cost, reorder point while the Ordering costs and the economic order quantity do not change if the firm does not hold the safety stock.

In an effort to ensure consistent in-stock on key items the merchant teams need your support in managing inventory on key drop ship items for Walmart.com. As part of this process we're requesting that you hold & maintain an inventory feed of 12 weeks of supply on top sellers. Please see an attachment for the list of your top selling SKUs. This quantity has been identified by item and noted as a "safety stock required" in column XX of the attachment.

The present organizational chart of the SC Department in the company includes two buyers, one material control clerk, one expeditor and two shipper/receivers. This structure was functional to the previous strategy because there was a strong focus on the purchasing function. We believe that in order to maximize the SC Department resources in accordance with the new structure the positions and functions of the people with the SC Department will have to be adapted to strengthen the inventory management function of the company. There company could benefit from having one person responsible for forecasting demand. Processes should be reviewed to ensure that the SC Department has sufficient access to information in order to achieve this task. Re-buying will also be of utmost importance now in order to ensure that there is always sufficient inventory to maintain production going.

In order to mitigate this risk, we decided to measure how long it takes for our current inventory system to be used up. We calculated this number to be 12 days. Furthermore, we calculated how much inventory we will need to not have to purchase any during the 50-day uncontrolled period. We calculated this number to be 42653 kits. Based on this information, we decided to change our EOQ to 42653 (+5000 safety stock) to have near 0 inventory the day the simulator stops, minimizing the amount of cash tied up with inventory. This can be seen in exhibit 4, the days before 218 are shown to be ordering approximately 9460 units per ~12 days and once we change our EOQ point to reflect the new strategy, the simulator orders enough to cover the remaining 50 days with minimal inventory left unsold. We also changed the re-order point to 0, so the simulator does not order anymore, and lets the inventory run out. This can be evidenced in exhibit 4 by noticing that the simulator does not re-order at any point throughout the 50-day uncontrolled period. Overall, this strategy was fairly successful. Over the 50-day uncontrolled period, we only had approximately 5000 kits worth of cash tied up in

After he completes his manual analysis, he then prioritizes which suppliers should be called first. Mr. Watkins manually phone, fax or email the purchase order to the suppliers.

Variable order cycle – lead time from placement to receiving of the order = 4 days.

When offers of reduced pricing are accepted for equipment, meeting delivery expectations becomes an important part of enhancing the customer experience to maintain satisfied loyal customers. An inventory specialist in the current distribution center would be given the additional task of segregating and maintaining inventory levels to meet the needs of the customer loyalty department.

After finding out the standard deviation of demand in 2010, the Z value and the lead time were also given in the case. On SG’s proposed policy revision, the company’s target service level is 99%, which translated to a Z value of 2.33 (pg 7). Finally, the average lead time after warehouses placed an order with manufacturing facility is approximately 5 days (pg 6). Combining the standard deviation of demand, the Z value, and lead time, the safety stock level for 2010 was calculated (SS Costs).

A central focus of McDonald’s, much like in any retailer, is Inventory Planning and Control. An advantage McDonald’s and other fast food restaurants have in Inventory Planning and Control is that the vast majority of their stock can be either be frozen (pre-prepared burger patties, chicken products, French fries) or can lost an almost indefinite period without deterioration (Boxes for serving menu items such as French fries or Happy Meals).8 However, Inventory Planning and Control is still something branches of McDonald’s must pay keen attention to in order to attain or maintain the desired level of customer service quality (known as quality management). Buffer or safety inventories (extra amounts of stock which are kept in preparation for unexpected fluctuations in supply and demand) are kept at all times to ensure that customers can be served their desired menu items regardless of increased demand.8 In addition to this, in times of extremely high unexpected demand different branches often