Materials Management
Materials management is a core supply chain function and includes supply chain planning and supply chain execution capabilities. Specifically, materials management is the capability firms use to plan total material requirements. The material requirements are communicated to procurement and other functions for sourcing. Materials management is also responsible for determining the amount of material to be deployed at each stocking location across the supply chain, establishing material replenishment plans, determining inventory levels to hold for each type of inventory (raw material, WIP, finished goods), and communicating information regarding material needs throughout the extended supply chain. Supply chain materials management areas of concentration Goals The goal of materials management is to provide an unbroken chain of components for production to manufacture goods on time for customers. The materials department is charged with releasing materials to a supply base, ensuri ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Supply Chain
A supply chain is a complex logistics system that consists of facilities that convert raw materials into finished products and distribute them to end consumers or end customers, while supply chain management deals with the flow of goods in distribution channels within the supply chain in the most efficient manner. In sophisticated supply chain systems, used products may re-enter the supply chain at any point where residual value is recyclable. Supply chains link value chains. Suppliers in a supply chain are often ranked by "tier", with first-tier suppliers supplying directly to the client, second-tier suppliers supplying to the first tier, and so on. The phrase "supply chain" may have been first published in a 1905 article in ''The Independent (New York City), The Independent'' which briefly mentions the difficulty of "keeping a supply chain with India unbroken" during the British expedition to Tibet. Overview A typical supply chain can be divided into two stages namely, produ ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Automated Identification And Data Capture
Automatic identification and data capture (AIDC) refers to the methods of automatically identifying objects, collecting data about them, and entering them directly into computer systems, without human involvement. Technologies typically considered as part of AIDC include QR codes, bar codes, radio frequency identification (RFID), biometrics (like iris and facial recognition system), magnetic stripes, optical character recognition (OCR), smart cards, and voice recognition. AIDC is also commonly referred to as "Automatic Identification", "Auto-ID" and "Automatic Data Capture". AIDC is the process or means of obtaining external data, particularly through the analysis of images, sounds, or videos. To capture data, a transducer is employed which converts the actual image or a sound into a digital file. The file is then stored and at a later time, it can be analyzed by a computer, or compared with other files in a database to verify identity or to provide authorization to enter a ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Inventory Management Software
An inventory management software is a software system for tracking inventory levels, orders, sales and deliveries. It can also be used in the manufacturing industry to create a work order, bill of materials and other production-related documents. Companies use inventory management software to avoid product overstock and outages. It is a tool for organizing inventory data that before was generally stored in hard-copy form or in spreadsheets. Features Inventory management software is made up of several key components working together to create a cohesive inventory of many organization's systems. These features include: Reorder point Should inventory reach a specific threshold, a company's inventory management system can be programmed to tell managers to reorder that product. This helps companies avoid running out of products or tying up too much capital in inventory. Asset tracking When a product is in a warehouse or store, it can be tracked via its barcode and/or other t ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Inventory Investment
Inventory investment (also private inventory) is a component of gross domestic product (GDP). What is produced in a certain country is naturally also sold eventually, but some of the goods produced in a given year may be sold in a later year rather than in the year they were produced. Conversely, some of the goods sold in a given year might have been produced in an earlier year. The difference between goods produced ( production) and goods sold (sales) in a given year is called inventory investment. The concept can be applied to the economy as a whole or to an individual firm, however this concept is generally applied in macroeconomics (economy as a whole). Unintended unsold stock of goods increases inventory investment. Definition of inventory investment *Inventory investment = production – sales Baumol, William J., and Alan Blinder Blinder, Alan S., ''Macroeconomics: Principles and Policy'', Southwestern College Publ., eleventh edition, 2008. Thus, if production per unit tim ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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SWOT Analysis
In strategic planning and strategic management, SWOT analysis (also known as the SWOT matrix, TOWS, WOTS, , and Situation analysis, situational analysis) is a decision-making technique that identifies the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats of an organization or project. SWOT analysis evaluates the strategic position of organizations and is often used in the preliminary stages of decision-making processes to identify internal and external factors that are favorable and unfavorable to achieving goals. Users of a SWOT analysis ask questions to generate answers for each category and identify competitive advantages. SWOT has been described as a "tried-and-true" tool of strategic analysis, but has also been criticized for limitations such as the static nature of the analysis, the influence of personal biases in identifying key factors, and the overemphasis on external factors, leading to reactive strategies. Consequently, alternative approaches to SWOT have been devel ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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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]   |
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Scan-based Trading
Scan-based trading (SBT) is the process by which suppliers maintain ownership of inventory within retailers' warehouses or stores until items are scanned at the point of sale. Suppliers, such as manufacturers or farmers, own the product until it is purchased by the customer, with the store or venue then buying the product from the supplier and reselling it to the customer. Analysts in the grocery sector estimate scan-based trading accounted for $21 billion dollars in consumer goods purchased in the grocery industry alone in 2020, or nearly 3% of overall sales. History Traditionally scan-based trading programs use electronic data interchange solutions as the key component to synchronize information on store locations (Organizational Structure 816), items (Price/Sales Catalog 832), daily sales (Product Activity Data 852), receivings (Receiving Advice 861), billings (Invoice 810) and payments (Remittance Advice 820) between a retailer and its Scan-Based Trading suppliers. Pros and c ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Vendor-managed Inventory
Vendor-managed inventory (VMI) is an Field inventory management, inventory management practice in which a supplier of goods, usually the manufacturer, is responsible for optimizing the inventory held by a distributor. Under VMI, the retailer shares their inventory data with a vendor (sometimes called supplier) such that the vendor is the decision-maker who determines the order size, whereas in traditional inventory management, the retailer (sometimes called distributor or buyer) makes his or her own decisions regarding the order size. Thus, the vendor is responsible for the retailer's ordering cost, while the retailer usually acquires ownership of the stock and has to pay for their own holding cost. One supply chain management glossary identifies VMI as although a 2008 article notes that there is no standard definition of VMI and the term's usage varies "significantly" among companies supporting VMI processes.Chhabra, N.Collaborative Fulfillment ''APICS e-News'', published 24 Septem ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Newsvendor Model
The newsvendor (or newsboy or single-periodWilliam J. Stevenson, Operations Management. 10th edition, 2009; page 581 or salvageable) model is a mathematical model in operations management and applied economics used to determine Inventory optimization, optimal inventory levels. It is (typically) characterized by fixed prices and uncertain demand for a perishable product. If the inventory level is q, each unit of demand above q is lost in potential sales. This model is also known as the ''newsvendor problem'' or ''newsboy problem'' by analogy with the situation faced by a newspaper vendor who must decide how many copies of the day's paper to stock in the face of uncertain demand and knowing that unsold copies will be worthless at the end of the day. History The mathematical problem appears to date from 1888 where Francis Ysidro Edgeworth, Edgeworth used the central limit theorem to determine the optimal cash reserves to satisfy random withdrawals from depositors. According to C ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Material Requirements Planning
Material requirements planning (MRP) is a production planning, scheduling, and inventory control system used to manage manufacturing processes. Most MRP systems are software-based, but it is possible to conduct MRP by hand as well. An MRP system is intended to simultaneously meet three objectives: * Ensure raw materials are available for production and products are available for delivery to customers. * Maintain the lowest possible material and product levels in store * Plan manufacturing activities, delivery schedules and purchasing activities. History Prior to MRP, and before computers dominated industry, reorder point (ROP)/reorder-quantity (ROQ) type methods like EOQ (economic order quantity) had been used in manufacturing and inventory management. MRP was computerized by the aero engine makers Rolls-Royce and General Electric in the early 1950s but not commercialized by them. It was then 'reinvented' to supply the Polaris program and then, in 1964, as a response to ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Economic Order Quantity
Economic order quantity (EOQ), also known as financial purchase quantity or economic buying quantity, is the order quantity that minimizes the total holding costs and ordering costs in inventory management. It is one of the oldest classical production scheduling models. The model was developed by Ford W. Harris in 1913, but the consultant R. H. Wilson applied it extensively, and he and K. Andler are given credit for their in-depth analysis. Overview The EOQ indicates the optimal number of units to order to minimize the total cost associated with the purchase, delivery, and storage of a product. EOQ applies only when demand for a product is constant over a period of time (such as a year) and each new order is delivered in full when inventory reaches zero. There is a fixed cost for each order placed, regardless of the quantity of items ordered; an order is assumed to contain only one type of inventory item. There is also a cost for each unit held in storage, commonly known as h ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |