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Another important area where inventory has a
significant impact is throughput. For a supply chain throughput is the rate at
which sales occur. If inventory is represented by I, flow time by T, and
throughput by D, the three can be related using little’s law as follows. For
example if the flow time of an auto assembly process is ten hours and the
throughput is 60 units an hour little law tells us that the inventory 60*10=600
units. If we were able to reduce inventory to 300 units while holding
throughput constant we would reduce out
flow time to five hours 300/60. We note that in this relationship inventory and
throughput must have consistent units
The logical conclusion here is that inventory and
flow time are synonymous in any supply chain. Managers must use measures that
lower the amount of inventory needs without increasing cost or reducing
responsiveness because reduced flow time can be a significant advantage in a
supply chain.
Role
in the competitive strategy
Inventory plays a important role in a supply chain’s
ability to support a company’s competitive strategy. If a company’s competitive
strategy requires a very high level of responsiveness a company can use
inventory to achieve this responsiveness by locating large amounts of inventory
close to the customer. Conversely a company can also use inventory to make it
more efficient by optimizing inventory through centralized stocking. The latter
strategy would support a competitive strategy of being a low- cost producer.
The trade- off implied in the inventory driver is between the responsiveness
that results from more inventories and the efficiency that results from fewer
inventories.
Minimize
costs at acceptable inventory levels:
Replacing inventories
in exceptionally small quantities result in low investments but high ordering
costs. Thus a point has to set where the total inventory carrying cost is bare
minimum but the level of inventory is such that it does not effect the
production or customer base.
Provide
desired customer service level: inventories offers
service in terms of satisfying customer demand. Inventory influences the time
and costs of service. The location of inventory determines the time in which
the customer will be served while a company policies concerning the economic
order quantity safety stocks placement procedures and time will determine the
cost at which the customer will be served.
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