Inventory Control and Management
You might imagine stock as warehouses full of goods but every organization holds stock, even those providing the most intangible service. A small company of knowledge workers, for example, stores information and experience, and it faces the same problems of inventory management as a giant manufacturer with its stores of finished goods and components. As stocks are almost universal, we should start with the basic question, ‘Why do organizations hold stocks?’ The main answer is to allow for variations and uncertainty in supply and demand – they give a buffer between suppliers and customers, maintaining customer service even when there are problems in the supply chain. Unfortunately, this safeguard comes...
