Inventory Management for Competitive Advantage

Keith Jones is a consultant in inventory management and project data analysis with 40 years' experience, primarily in the chemical industry, working in roles from R&D Chemist to Commercial Director. In his consultancy work he harnesses his experience of working in R&D, production quality control, purchasing, finance, customer service, production planning, IT project management, supply chain project management, data analysis, inventory management, sales, market research, warehousing and logistics. The breadth of his experience has given him a unique perspective on inventory management that is applicable across all industries.

• Acknowledgements, Preface, Terms, Introduction, Checklists, Telematics, Layout, 1 Background, Inventory phases, Stable equilibrium, Conflicting objectives, Measures, Inventory value, Inventory Turn / Inventory Days, Actions, 2 Finance, Raw material receipt, Product manufacture, Product delivery to inventory, Product sales, Inventory count, Preparation, Count, Reconciliation, Review, Physical reconciliation, Financial reconciliation, Measures, Actions, 3 Planning, Opening inventory, Customer orders, Production resource, Safety Stock, Demand forecast, Measures, Criteria (preset parameters), Demand, Resources, Summary, Actions, 4 Production, Preparation, Execution, Delivery, Measures, Summary, Actions, 5 Dispatch, Accuracy, Damage, Training, Special conditions, Measures, Summary, Actions, 6 Goods Inwards, Accuracy, Material loss, Briefing, Measures, Summary, Actions, 7 Purchasing, Part 1: General purchasing, Part 2: Purchasing Strategy, 8 Sales, Anticipating and order, Safety Stock, Consignment inventory, Product pricing, Flexibility, Minimum batch sizes, Pricing for failure, Bullwhip effect, Certainty, Measures and control systems, Summary, Actions, 9 Technical Service, Knowledge gap, Customer trials, Initial use, Ongoing use, Troubleshooting, Measures, Summary, Actions, 10 Customer Service, Customer portals, Familiarity, Templates, Variance reports, Part packs, Error spotting, Measures, Summary, Actions, 11 Marketing, Product promotion, Understanding customer requirements, Market trends, Measures, Summary, Actions, 12 Research and Development, New product development, Production support, Quarantine inventory, Customer complaints, Measures, Summary, Actions, 13 Error management, Skill gap, Knowledge gap, Not following a process correctly, Visualisation, Equipment, Process, Training, Focus, Dealing with errors, 14 Summary, Paying attention to detail, Aligning strategies, Process, Measures, Appendix 1 Inventory count checklist, Appendix 2 Analysis template, Appendix 3 Safety Stock, Appendix 4 Safety Stock review, Appendix 5 Anticipated order pre-approval, Appendix 6 Detailed production plan, Appendix 7 Production briefing agenda, Appendix 8 Shift handover form, Appendix 9 Dispatch variance report, Appendix 10 Standard selection list, Appendix 11 Dispatch instructions template, Appendix 12 Goods Inwards instructions template, Appendix 13 Preferred purchase quantity approval, Appendix 14 Manufacture without purchase order, Appendix 15 Consignment inventory request, Appendix 16 Consignment inventory administration, Appendix 17 Customer trial checklist, Appendix 18 Initial use checklist, Appendix 19 Ongoing use checklist, Appendix 20 Market research checklist, Appendix 21 New raw materials introduction, Appendix 22 Formula and process change management, Appendix 23 ECR segment attributes, Index