Advantages and Disadvantages of Inventory Management Systems

Advantages and Disadvantages of Inventory Management SystemsINVENTORYThe term rail line derives from the French word inventaire and the Latin word inventariom which simply means a total of things which ar found. The term stock certificate includes materials which are in raw form, or are in process, in the stainless packaging, spares and the others which are stocked in come out to meet in all the unexpected demands or distribution in the future. This term usually refers to the stock at hand at a item fulfilment of eon of all those materials which are in raw form, those goods which are in progress of manufacture, all the finished products, merchandise purchased products for resale of those products, tangible products which can be seen, touched, metric or are countable. In a connection with the financial statements and records of accounting, the reference may be to the amount assigned to the stock or the pile of goods have by an enterprise at a particular layover of time of time. Inventory controls transit and handling. The raw materials may be transported thousands of kilometers before they are converted into an stamp out product. At the same time, materials which are in transit, may take a period of several years or months. During this process of transit, materials carry some matchlesss caudex. These Inventories serve to isolate the supplier, the producer and the consumer. Inventories permit the acquirement of raw materials in sparing lot sizes as well as processing of these raw materials into finished goods in the most economical quantities. Raw material inventories distinguish the supplier of raw materials from the user of these raw materials. Finished goods inventories distinguish the user of the final goods from the producer of the goods. Inventories are held to facilitate product display and service to customers, batching in production in aver to take advantage of longer production runs and provide tractability in production scheduling .There are four types of inventoriesProduction inventoriesMRO inventoriesIn process inventoriesFinished goods inventoriesObjectives of inventory managementTo ensure a continuous try of raw materials and supplies to facilitate unhandled production.To maintain required quantity of finished goods for smooth sales operation and efficient customer service.It permits the acquirement of raw materials in economic lot sizes as well as processing of these raw materials into finished goods is the most economical quantity known as economic lot size.It reduces the dependencies of one another and enables the organizations to schedule their operations without getting dependent on to each one other.It helps to reduce those costs which have been occurred during the material handling.It helps to utilize people and materials reasonably.It controls display of the products and go provided to the corresponding customers.INVENTORY SYSTEMAn inventory system facilitates the organizational structure and t he operating policies for maintaining and controlling materials to be inventoried. This system is responsible for governing and receipt of materials, measure the recite placement and keeping record of what has been enjoin, how much ordered and from whom the order placement has been done.There are two models of inventory system-The fixed order quantity systemThe fixed order periodic systemFIXED ORDER QUANTITY SYSTEMThe fixed order quantity system is too known as the Q system. In this system, whenever the stock on hand reaches the reorder point, a fixed quantity of materials is ordered. The fixed quantity of material ordered each time is actually the economic order quantity. Whenever a new consignment arrives, the total stock is maintained within the maximum and the minimum limits. The fixed order quantity method is a method that facilitates for a predetermined amount of a given material to be ordered at a particular period of time. This method helps to limit reorder mistakes, co nserve space for the storage of the finished goods, and block those unnecessary expenditures that would tie up funds that could be remedy utilized elsewhere. The fixed order quantity may be bridged to an automatic reorder point where a particular quantity of a good is ordered when stock at hand reaches a level which is already determined.AdvantagesEach material can be procured in the most economical quantity.Purchasing and inventory control people automatically gives their attention to those items which are required wholly when are needed.Positive control can easily be handled to maintain the inventory investment at the desired level only by calculating the predetermined maximum and minimum values.DisadvantagesSometimes, the orders are placed at the irregular time periods which may not be convenient to the producers or the suppliers of the materials.The items cannot be grouped and ordered at a time since the reorder points occur irregularly.If at that place is a case when the ord er placement time is very high, there would be two to three orders pending with the supplier each time and there is likeliness that he may supply all orders at a time.EOQ may give an order quantity which is much lower than the supplier minimum and there is always a probability that the order placement level for a material has been reached but not noticed in which case a stock out may occur.The system assumes stable usage and definite lead time. When these change significantly, a new order quantity and a new order point should be fixed, which is quite cumbersome.FIXED ORDER PERIOD SYSTEMIn this system, the stock position of each material of a product is chequered at regular intervals of time period. When the stock level of a given product is not sufficient to sustain the operation of production until the next schedule tested, an order is placed destroying the supply. The frequency of reviews varies from organization to organization. It also varies among products within the same org anization, depending upon the importance of the product, predetermined production schedules, market conditions and so forth. The order quantities vary for contrasting materials.Every order quantity in their method is obtained by the following formula.AdvantagesThe ordering and inventory costs are low. The ordering cost is considerably bring down though follow up work for each delivery may be necessary.The suppliers will also offer attractive discounts as sales are guaranteed.The system works well for those products which exhibit an irregular or seasonal usage and whose purchases must be planned in advance on the primer of sales estimates.Dis advantagesThe periodic testing system tends to peak the purchasing work around the review dates.The system demands the establishment of rather inflexible order quantities in the interest of administrative efficiency.It compels a periodic review of all items this itself makes the system somewhat inefficient.Distinction between Q system and P s ystemPoint of varianceQ systemP systemInitiation of orderStock on hand reaches to reorder pointBased on fixed review period and not stock levelPeriod of orderAny time when stock level reaches to reorder pointOnly after the predetermined periodRecord keepingContinuously each time a withdrawal or addition is madeOnly at the review period fellowship quantityConstant the same quantity ordered each timeQuantity of order varies each time order is placedSize of inventoryless than the P systemLarger than the Q systemTime to maintainHigher due to perpetual record keepingLess than due to only at the review periodExamplesFixed order quantity systemA painter can order 200 gallons or more for $4.75 per gallon, with all other factors in the computation remaining the same. He must compare the total costs of taking this approach to the total costs under the EOQ. utilize the total cost formula, the painter would find TC = PD + HQ/2 + SD/Q = (5 3,500) + (3 187)/2 + (15 3,500)/187 = $18,061 for t he EOQ. Ordering the higher quantity and receiving the monetary value discount would outcome a total cost of (4.75 3,500) + (3 200)/2 + (15 3,500)/200 = $17,187. In other words, the painter can save $875 per year by taking advantage of the price break and making 17.5 orders per year of 200 units each.Fixed order period systemDaily demand for a product is 10 units with a archetype deviation of 3 units. The review period is 30 days, and lead time is 14 days. At the moment of the review time, there are 150 units in inventory. For a 98% service level, how many units should be ordered?Solution= 10 units= 3 unitsT= 30 daysL= 14 daysz= 2.05 units.