Inventory Management Foundations

Course details

The success of a business can hinge on how its inventory is managed. There are costs to having too little—or too much—inventory on hand. In this course, instructor Steven Brown equips you with tools and strategies that can help you get inventory control right. Steven begins by going over the different types of inventories and highlighting both the traditional and hidden costs of inventory. He then dives into inventory management, discussing reasons to hold inventory, as well as how to approach production inventory, finished goods inventory, and service inventory. He also goes over control systems, and shares tools and management methods that can help you effectively analyze and control your inventory.

Learning objectives
Describe what takt time is and why it’s used.
Explain how using standardized parts reduces costs.
Summarize the importance of quality at the source.
Cite who should manage lean inventory.
Describe how to create a lean culture in your business.

Concepts

0. Introduction

01 - What is inventory management

1. Understanding Inventory

02 - Inventory management defined
03 - Types of inventories
04 - View inventory as money
05 - Costs of inventory

2. Understanding Inventory Management

06 - The right amount of inventory
07 - Reasons to hold inventory
08 - Understand production inventory
09 - Understand finished goods inventory
10 - Manage service inventory

3. Inventory Control Systems

11 - Sales and operations plan
12 - Demand forecasting
13 - Enterprise resource planning (ERP)
14 - Materials requirements plan

4. Inventory Analytical Tools

15 - Radio frequency identification (RFID)
16 - ABC analysis
17 - Total cost analysis
18 - Economic order quantity

5. Inventory Management Methods

19 - Cycle counting
20 - Three inventory models
21 - Vendor-managed inventory
22 - Collaborative inventory management

Conclusion

23 - Going further with inventory management