Inventory Control
Dr A A Khan
Inventory Control
Description:
Analysis of deterministic and stochastic inventory models;
Lot size models and their extensions;
Reorder point determination,quantity discounts;
The Wagner-Whitin algorithm;
Newsvendor (single period and two period models);
Period review and Multi-echelon models.
Introduction 1- 2
Course Content
Introduction
Batch Quantities for Deterministic Demand
Time varying demand (Wagner-Whitin algorithm)
Decision & Forecast Horizons
Safety Stock and Reorder Points
Joint Optimization of Order Quantity and Reorder Point
Optimality of Base-Stock Policies
Optimality of (s,S) Policies
Power-of-Two Policies
Production Smoothing & Joint Replacement
Inventory Model with Markovian Demand
Forecasting
Implementation
Introduction 1- 3
Introduction-I
Inventory everywhere:
my desk drawer
piles of coal in a Tokyo steel plant
supply room, retail stores
vast global network of industry
inventories in transit
inventories in the service industries
immense scale, $1.1 billion in March 1999 in the USA
Introduction 1- 4
Introduction-II
Customer do not easily forgive shortage of delivery delays
Inventory management critical to a firms strategic viability
Success stores in retailing (Wal-Mart), auto (Toyota),
computer (Dell) are founded on operational capabilities that
among other things keep inventories lean
[Link]
- operation without huge inventory
- innovation in inventory management enabled by technology
Introduction 1- 5
Importance of Inventories-I
Inventories present about 1/3 of our total investments, and
as a result are extremely significant
The total amount of inventories in the U.S was $243.5 billion
in 1970 and $1.1 trillion in March 1999; that is 1.35 times
their total monthly sales
Following the inventory recession of 1920s, Dun and
Bradstreet issued a book describing numerous cases of
business failures resulting from inventories
Businessmen have developed an almost pathological fear
of increasing inventories. (Whitin)
Introduction 1- 6
Importance of Inventories-II
This fear has had the effect of reducing inventories in many
firms to operating levels far below good inventory practice,
which has lead to high operating costs.
Dont expect your management to relinquish its belief in
inventory turnover overnight. Years of use has given this
tool far more stature than it rightfully deserves. (Evert
Welch)
Product diversification has increased the number of parts to
control; these number literally in tens and hundreds of
thousands.
Introduction 1- 7
Introduction to Inventory Control-I
Supply Chain Management:
control of the material flow from supplier to customers is a
crucial problem
Total investment in inventories is ENORMOUS
Huge potential for improvement to cut cost, to gain
competitive advantage
Importance of Inventory Management
Introduction 1- 8
Introduction to Inventory Control-II
Balancing conflicting goals of Finance, Production and
Marketing
Finance: keep stocks low to free up investment capital
Purchasing: order large batches to get volume discounts
Production: long production runs to avoid time-consuming
setups and have a large raw material inventory to avoid
production stoppages
Marketing: have high stock of finished goods to avoid
stockouts
Inventory Models seek to find the best balance between
these goals.
Introduction 1- 9
Independent Demand Inventory Models-I
Introduction
The average manufacturing company spends over one-
half of its sales revenue on inventory. Because of the large
investment and expenditure required for acquiring and
controlling inventories and their effect on profits, successful
companies devote a great deal of attention to inventory
management.
How much inventory is enough?
- Marketing department wants large inventory, it does not
like stockouts.
- Finance department likes low inventory and high turnover
to minimize funds tied up in inventories; opportunity cost
of capital.
Introduction 1- 10
Independent Demand Inventory Models-II
- Production department likes to keep production costs low. It
likes uniform production and long uninterrupted runs of a
small number of products.
Inventory models attempt to consider the cost of stockouts and
lost sales, the cost of funds tied up in inventories and the cost of
set-ups and to balance these cost as as to minimize the total
cost.
Introduction 1- 11
Inventory Management-I
Inventory: An idle resource of any kind that has potential
economic value
- raw materials
- component parts
- work-in-process
- finished products, etc.
Reasons for carrying inventory
1) To provide service
- finished good inventory to meet demand and keep
customers happy
- work-in-progress inventory to increase flexibility by
decoupling production stages and keep machines running
- raw material inventory keeps production moving
- protection against uncertainty
Introduction 1- 12
Inventory Management-II
2) To save money
- buying in large quantities allows spreading of fixed costs
such as ordering costs and obtaining quantity discounts.
- stocking of seasonal items allow production smoothing or
work-load balancing.
The aborigine knew nothing of inventory control, and, quite
possibly his 20th century corporate counterpart is equally as
unenlightened. The changeover from inventory to inventory
control bears no date. Some concerns plunged into the
healthful waters of scientific management of inventories well
before the first world war. Others are still on the shore
contemplating on the advisability of wetting their toes.
(Benjamin Melnitsky).
Introduction 1- 13
Inventory Management-III
History
1915 [Link] (Westinghouse)
Lot size formula (EOQ model); independently
developed by Wilson and sold to many companies as
an integral part of an inventory control scheme.
1931 F.E. Raymond (MIT)
Wrote the first full length book.
WWII Christmas tree problem (Newsboy problem)
Whitins stochastic extension of the EOQ model.
Early Computer made it possible to handle large data
requirement
1950s Of the inventory models, Whitin published a book on
stochastic inventory models in 1953.
Introduction 1- 14
Inventory Management-IV
1958 Arrow, Karlin and Scarf published their now classical
book, which is a definitive work on inventory theory,
inspired a great deal of research for next decade.
Mid Material requirement planning (MRP)
1970s Books by Orlicky, Wight in 1974
Introduction 1- 15
Inventory Problem-I
Solve for
1) When should an order be placed?
2) How much should be ordered?
in order to minimize the costs
Applications
- raw materials, intermediate products, finished goods
- capacity planning (e.g., hospital beds)
- cash management
Introduction 1- 16
Inventory Problem-II
Types of inventory systems
- Order point planning (OPP)
- Fixed-Quantity system (Trans, 5-1)
- Fixed-Interval system (Trans, 5-2)
- Minimum-Maximum System, (s,S)-system
- Material requirement planning (MRP)
- Kanban or just-in-time system
Introduction 1- 17
A Fixed Order Quantity Inventory
Reorder System
Introduction 1- 18
A Fixed Interval Inventory Reorder System
Introduction 1- 19
Introduction 1- 20
Typical Distribution of the ABC
Inventory System
Introduction 1- 21
General Framework for Inventory Models-I
Demand
- certainty
- risk, probability distribution of demand
- uncertainty, nothing known
Lead time: The period between the order time and the
delivery time
- certainty
- risk, probability distribution of demand
- uncertainty
Inside or Outside Procurement
- purchased from outside; pure inventory problem
- integrated with production smoothing if inside
Introduction 1- 22
General Framework for Inventory Models-II
Static and Dynamic Problems
- Static: one period problem, classic examples are
Christmas tree and newsboy problem
- Dynamic: decisions over time
Behavior of Demand through Time and for Various Items
- Stationary Demand: EOQ models
- Time-dependent Demand: WW model, Silver/Meal Heuristic
- Dependent Demand: MRP
Introduction 1- 23
General Framework for Inventory Models-III
Costs
- Price or Variable Production Costs: quantity discounts
- Ordering or Setup Costs
- Holding or Inventory Carrying Costs
- Stockout/Shortage costs
Introduction 1- 24
General Framework for Inventory Models-III
Information technology allows us to easily keep and update
information
Simple inventory system can include:
- forecasting module
- determination of order points and order quantities
- monitoring of inventory levels
Costs
- holding costs including opportunity costs
- ordering or setup costs
- shortage costs or service levels
Capacity Constraints
- demand distribution
- lead times
Will not consider speculative costs.
Introduction 1- 25