Planning and Managing Inventories in a Supply Chain

• Managing economies of scale in a supply chain: cycle inventory
• Managing uncertainty in a supply chain: safety inventory
• Determining the optimal level of product availability

Upon completion of this course, you will be able to understand:

• How to balance the appropriate costs to choose the optimal lot size and cycle inventory in a supply chain.
• The impact of quantity discounts on lot size and cycle inventory.
• How to devise the appropriate discounting schemes for a supply chain.
• The impact of trade promotions on lot size and cycle inventory.
• The managerial levers that reduce lot size and cycle inventory in a supply chain without increasing cost.
• The different measures of product availability.
• The role of safety inventory in a supply chain.
• The factors that influence the required level of safety inventory.
• How to use available managerial levers to lower safety inventory without hurting product availability.
• The factors affecting the optimal level of product availability and evaluate the optimal cycle service level.
• How to use managerial levers that improve supply chain profitability.
• The conditions under which postponement is valuable in a supply chain.
• How to allocate limited supply capacity among multiple products to maximise expected profits.