|
Inventory
Inventory (British English) or stock (American English) is a quantity of the goods and materials that a business holds for the ultimate goal of resale, production or utilisation. Inventory management is a discipline primarily about specifying the shape and placement of stocked goods. It is required at different locations within a facility or within many locations of a supply network to precede the regular and planned course of production and stock of materials. The concept of inventory, stock or work in process (or work in progress) has been extended from manufacturing systems to service businesses and projects, by generalizing the definition to be "all work within the process of production—all work that is or has occurred prior to the completion of production". In the context of a manufacturing production system, inventory refers to all work that has occurred—raw materials, partially finished products, finished products prior to sale and departure from the manufacturing ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Work In Process
Work in process or work-in-process, (WIP), work in progress (WIP), goods in process, or in-process inventory refers to a company's partially finished goods waiting for completion and eventual sale, or the value of these items. The term is used in supply chain management, and WIP is a key input for calculating inventory on a company's balance sheet. In lean thinking, inappropriate processing or excessive processing of goods or work in process, "doing more than is necessary", is seen as one of the seven wastes (Japanese term: '' muda'') which do not add value to a product. WIP inventory in supply chain management WIP inventory calculations can help a company assess their supply chain health and guide in supply chain planning. In most cases, it is ideal to have low WIP inventory levels, and companies that manage their inventory level efficiently tend to have lower costs. Managing WIP inventory requires coordination between several functions within a company, as well as with supplie ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Stock Management
Inventory management, also known as field inventory management, is the task of understanding the stock mix of a company and the handling of the different demands placed on that stock. The demands are influenced by both external and internal factors and are balanced by the creation of purchase order requests to keep supplies at a reasonable or prescribed level. Inventory management is important for every other business enterprise. It includes tasks related to setting and reviewing inventory targets.Gartner, Inc.Cover Considerations — How to Optimize Retail and Consumer Product Inventory Targets published on 15 February 2017, accessed on 25 April 2025 Overview A typical inventory management process for a retail business follows the following sequence: # Request for new inventory from stores to head office, # Head office issues a purchase order to the vendor, # Vendor ships the goods, # Warehouse receives the goods, # Warehouse stores and distributes to the stores, # Shops and/ ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Reorder Level
The reorder point (ROP), also reorder level (ROL) or "optimal re-order level", is the level of inventory which triggers an action to replenish that particular inventory. It is a minimum amount of an item which a firm holds in stock, such that, when stock falls to this amount, the item must be reordered. It is normally calculated as the forecast usage during the replenishment lead time plus safety stock. In the EOQ (Economic Order Quantity) model, it was assumed that there is no time lag between ordering and receipt of materials. Continuous review system The reorder point for replenishment of stock occurs when the level of inventory drops down to zero. In a model with instantaneous replenishment of stock the level of inventory jumps to the original level from zero level. In real life situations there is never a zero lead time: there is always a time lag from the date of placing an order for material to the date on which materials are received. As a result, the reorder point is alwa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Safety Stock
Safety stock is a term used by logistics, logisticians to describe a level of extra inventory, stock which is maintained to mitigate the risk of stockouts, which can be caused, for example, by shortfalls in raw material availability or uncertainty in forecasting supply and demand. Adequate safety stock levels permit business operations to proceed according to their plans.Monk, Ellen and Bret Wagner. Concepts in Enterprise Resource Planning. 3rd Edition. Boston: Course Technology Cengage Learning, 2009. Safety stock is held when uncertainty exists in demand, supply, or manufacturing yield, and serves as an insurance against stockouts. Safety stock is an additional quantity of an item held in the inventory to reduce the risk that the item will be out of stock. It acts as a buffer stock in case sales are greater than planned and/or the supplier is unable to deliver the additional units at the expected time. With a new product, safety stock can be used as a strategic tool until the com ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
ABC Analysis
In materials management, ABC analysis is an inventory Inventory (British English) or stock (American English) is a quantity of the goods and materials that a business holds for the ultimate goal of resale, production or utilisation. Inventory management is a discipline primarily about specifying ... categorisation technique which divides inventory into three categories: 'A' items, with very tight control and accurate records, 'B' items, less tightly controlled and with moderate records, and 'C' items, with the simplest controls possible and minimal records. An ABC analysis provides a mechanism for identifying items that will have a significant impact on overall inventory cost, while also providing a mechanism for identifying different categories of stock that will require different management and controls. The ABC analysis suggests that inventories of an organization are not of equal value. Thus, the inventory is grouped into three categories (A, B, and C) in order of their e ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Warehouse
A warehouse is a building for storing goods. Warehouses are used by manufacturers, importers, exporters, wholesalers, transport businesses, customs, etc. They are usually large plain buildings in industrial parks on the rural–urban fringe, outskirts of cities, towns, or villages. Warehouses usually have loading docks to load and unload goods from trucks. Sometimes warehouses are designed for the loading and unloading of goods directly from railways, airports, or seaports. They often have crane (machine), cranes and Forklift truck, forklifts for moving goods, which are usually placed on International Organization for Standardization, ISO standard pallets and then loaded into pallet racking, pallet racks. Stored goods can include any raw materials, packing materials, spare parts, components, or finished goods associated with agriculture, manufacturing, and production. In India and Hong Kong, a warehouse may be referred to as a godown. There are also godowns in the Shanghai Bund. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Stock Keeping Unit
In inventory management, a stock keeping unit (abbreviated as SKU, pronounced or ) is the unit of measure in which the stocks of a material are managed. It is a distinct type of item for sale, purchase, or tracking in inventory, such as a product or service, and all attributes associated with the item type that distinguish it from other item types (for a product, these attributes can include manufacturer, description, material, size, color, packaging, and warranty terms). When a business records the inventory of its stock, it counts the quantity it has of each unit, or SKU. SKU can also refer to a unique identifier or code, sometimes represented via a barcode for scanning and tracking, which refers to the particular stock keeping unit. These identifiers are not regulated or standardized. When a company receives items from a vendor, it has a choice of maintaining the vendor's SKU or creating its own. This makes them distinct from Global Trade Item Number (GTIN), which are stan ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lead Time
A lead time is the latency between the initiation and completion of a process. For example, the lead time between the placement of an order and delivery of new cars by a given manufacturer might be between 2 weeks and 6 months, depending on various particularities. One business dictionary defines "manufacturing lead time" as the total time required to manufacture an item, including order preparation time, queue time, setup time, run time, move time, inspection time, and put-away time. For make-to-order products, it is the time between release of an order and the production and shipment that fulfill that order. For make-to-stock products, it is the time taken from the release of an order to production and receipt into finished goods inventory. Supply chain management A conventional definition of lead time in a supply chain management context is the time from the moment the customer places an order (the moment the supplier learns of the requirement) to the moment it is ready for de ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Retailing
Retail is the sale of goods and services to consumers, in contrast to wholesaling, which is the sale to business or institutional customers. A retailer purchases goods in large quantities from manufacturers, directly or through a wholesaler, and then sells in smaller quantities to consumers for a profit. Retailers are the final link in the supply chain from producers to consumers. Retail markets and shops have a long history, dating back to antiquity. Some of the earliest retailers were itinerant peddlers. Over the centuries, retail shops were transformed from little more than "rude booths" to the sophisticated shopping malls of the modern era. In the digital age, an increasing number of retailers are seeking to reach broader markets by selling through multiple channels, including both bricks and mortar and online retailing. Digital technologies are also affecting the way that consumers pay for goods and services. Retailing support services may also include the provisio ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Distribution (business)
Distribution is the process of making a product or service available for the consumer or business user who needs it, and a distributor is a business involved in the distribution stage of the value chain. Distribution can be done directly by the producer or service provider or by using indirect channels with distributors or intermediaries. Distribution (or place) is one of the four elements of the marketing mix: the other three elements being product, pricing, and promotion. Decisions about distribution need to be taken in line with a company's overall strategic vision and mission. Developing a coherent distribution plan is a central component of strategic planning. At the strategic level, as well as deciding whether to distribute directly or via a distribution network, there are three broad approaches to distribution, namely mass, selective and exclusive distribution. The number and type of intermediaries selected largely depends on the strategic approach. The overall distr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
