1.

Article : Inventory Management Practices and Sales Performance in Retail Outlets: Case
of Supermarkets in Nakuru Town, Kenya
Journal : International Journal of Social Science and Humanities Research
Publisher : Research Publish Journals
Volume : 6
Issue : 4
Year : 2018
Keywords : Inventory Management Practices, Sales Performance, Retail Outlets,
Supermarket

The ability to achieve a seamless flow of inventories remains to be a major challenge among
retail stores in Kenya. Major retail companies in Kenya have entered into quantity or time-
based service contracts with suppliers. While was envisaged to that this will lead optimal
stock management, most of these retail companies suffer from both overstocking and stock
run-outs, a potential source of low sales. In view of this, this study seeks to bring to the fore
the likely influence of inventory management practices on sales performance among retail
stores in Nakuru Town. Specifically, the study brings to the fore the influence of four
practices; inventory management systems, strategic supplies selection, vendor managed
inventory and inventory forecasting practices. A census of 80 employees working in the 16
retail stores within Nakuru town was adopted. Inventory management systems and vendor
managed inventory was found to have a positive and significant relationship with sales
performance of retail stores. Based on the current findings. This calls for the retail outlets to
take a critical look and analyze their inventory practices, before their implementation.
2. Journal : International Review of Management and Marketing
Author(s) : Widyastuti Widyastuti, Nadia Asandimitra, Yessy Artanti
Affiliation : Universitas Negeri Surabaya, Indonesia
Author Email : nadiaharyono@unesa.ac.id
Publisher : EconJournals
Volume : 8
Issue : 1
Year : 2018
Start Page : 64
End Page : 67
Keywords : Inventory Management, Raw Materials, Inhibiting Factors, Perishable
The production process in a business will run smoothly if the company has adequate raw
material availability. Raw materials is one of the factors of production that management is
quite complicated to do. The production process can not run smoothly if the available raw
materials are not sufficient so that eventually the company will lose consumers. Conversely,
an excess inventory of raw materials can increase storage costs, increasing the risk of damage
so as to reduce the profit earned. For SMEs who produce food and beverages, managing raw
material inventory is an important thing to do to get quality products so as to improve its
performance. Raw materials used to make the production process is a raw material that is easy
to rot and perishable. MSMEs are required to be able to produce quality products using fresh
raw materials. This study aims to analyze the obstacles encountered by MSMEs in managing
raw material inventory. Based on the results of the research can be seen that the availability of
raw materials on the market, as well as unstable prices is a factor inhibiting MSMEs in doing
raw material inventory. In addition, the storage of raw materials that still simple also become
a constraint MSMEs to store raw materials in large quantities. Therefore, the government's
 role in stabilizing prices and supporting the availability of raw materials on the
market.Keywords: inventory management, raw materials, inhibiting factors,

3. Article : Supply Chain Management on the Production Process and Distribution Flows of
the Superior Teak Seedlings Production
Journal : International Journal of Supply Chain Management
Author(s) : Muhammad Alkaff, Marimin Marimin, Yandra Arkeman, Sukardi Sukardi,
Herry Purnomo
Publisher : ExcelingTech Publisher
Volume : 7
Issue : 3
Year : 2018
Start Page : 16
End Page : 23
Management of supply chain that interrelates and integrates both consumers and suppliers in
a process to make a value of product or service for consumers is very importance and
strategic as well. The research objective is to analyze and improve the sustainability
performance of production process and distribution flow of the teak seedling production
within its supply chain. This research used multiple dimensional analysis and value stream
mapping to identify the sustainability performance and analytical network process to find the
key factors that improve the SCM performance of superior teak production. The research
found that 1) the Parameter influencing SCM is supplier and therefore it requires system
improvement. The problem is that the delivery of materials purchased in Surabaya takes too
long time before they are stored in the warehouse. Placing a purchase order long time
beforehand may apparently solve the problem. But in fact, it creates another problem because
the materials are not to be stored in the warehouse for a long time due to their short expiry
date and due to the limited infrastructures like warehouse and roads. SCM values on the
production system of superior teak seedling production of BPPT located in Jatisari area is
56.62 with a quite high category.
4. Article : Fuzzy Expected Value Approach to Solve Integrated Supplier Selection and
Inventory Control Problem in Fuzzy Environment
Journal : International Journal of Supply Chain Management
Author(s) : Sutrisno Sutrisno, Widowati Widowati, R Heru Tjahjana
Publisher : ExcelingTech Publisher
Volume : 7
Issue : 3
Year : 2018
Start Page : 24
In a production and inventory planning management, the future parameters like future
demand, future product buying cost, future transport cost and future holding cost are
obviously unknown/uncertain. To determine the optimal strategy in uncertain condition, a
method that can handle the uncertainty of parameters is needed. If the historical data of the
uncertain parameters are known then they can be approached by using probability
distribution, but if there is no historical data then it cannot be used. In this paper, we propose
a new mathematical optimization model with fuzzy parameters to solve an integrated supplier
selection problem and inventory control problem in fuzzy environment where fuzzy variables
 are used to approach the uncertain parameters. To solve the corresponding optimization
problem, we use fuzzy expected value based integer quadratic programming where the fuzzy
variables are approximated by fuzzy expected value. From the numerical experiment results,
the optimal strategy i.e. the optimal supplier and the optimal stored product volume were
obtained and the actual inventory level followed the desired level with minimal total expected
cost.
5. Article : Deployment of Information Communication Technologies (ICT) and the
Performance of Small and Medium Retail Stores in Sango-Ota Area of Ogun State, Nigeria
Journal : American Journal of Economics, Finance and Management
Author(s) : Samuel Sunday Eleboda, Yinka Solomon Aransiola
Affiliation : Department of Administration and Management, College of Business and
Social Sciences, Crawford University, Faith City, Nigeria.
Publisher : Public Science Framework
Volume : 3
Issue : 5
Year : 2017
Start Page : 46
End Page : 55

The purpose of this study is to gain an understanding of the factors which influence the adoption
and usage of ICT by retail SMEs in Nigeria. It therefore examined the effect of ICT deployment
on three main performance indicators which are sales, productivity, and inventory management.
The study population consisted of employees and customers of retail stores in the study area
whose actual number cannot be ascertained. A sample size of 160 (one hundred and sixty)
respondents was selected. The research instrument was the questionnaire and the analytical
techniques included both descriptive and inferential statistics. The results of this study show that
the factors examined are significantly important to the deployment of ICT. This implies that all
the five independent variables have significant impact on inventory management performance.
However, some of the components of ICT deployment were found to be insignificant in
determining their adoption. The study concluded that majority of retail stores have limited usage
of ICT in business activities. This may be caused by internal and external factors. Those SMEs
who are interested in promoting their businesses based on ICT may find these results helpful in
guiding their efforts. The study recommends that the information communication technology
trends should be complemented by delivering on what customers truly want and value by not only
listening to what customers say, but also by analyzing their purchase behaviour.

6. Article : Smart Inventory Management system

Journal : International Education and Research Journal
Author(s) : Santhosh Kumar K G, Jayarekha P
Affiliation : Dept. of ISE, BMS College of Engineering, Bangalore, INDIA – 560 019.
India
Publisher : International Education and Research Journal
Volume : 3
Issue : 5
Year : 2017
Keywords : Integrated Development Environment, Mobile Application, Network Address
Translation
The Smart inventory management system is an application which is used for the data
 maintenance of different telecom network elements. The main objective of this inventory
application is to give efficient and easy access of all elements. It includes the web interface
and mobile application for the accessing of elements data by user. It has the centralized
database to store information about the elements. Here database used is mongodb. The mobile
application is used here to send the information to centralized location and retrieve the
information from the same location. QR code reader is integrated with the application for the
fast access of different elements. QR code is pasted and scanned to get the information about
the elements. The database can be accessed by the mobile application which is stored in the
local network. Mobile application is assigned with the public IP (Internet protocol) address
which will redirect to private IP address by using network address translation. The firewall is
will be maintained to ensure the secure transfer of data. The intermediate IDE (Integrated
development environment) eclipse is used between application and the database. The apache
tomcat server will be used in eclipse. Mobile application will get the data with the help of
tomcat server. It also has the web interface which shows the elements details. Every
information about elements which was added by the mobile application will be reflected in
the web interface. This results in an easy management of network elements by using the
different technologies.
7. Article : Inventory Management and SMEs Profitability. a Study of Furniture
Manufacturing, Wholesale and Eatery Industry in Delta State, Nigeria
Journal : Journal of Finance and Accounting
Author(s) : Otuya Sunday, Eginiwin E Joseph
Affiliation : Department of Accounting & Finance, Faculty of Humanities, Social and
Management Sciences, Edwin Clark University, Kiagbodo, Delta State
Publisher : Science and Education Publishing
Volume : 5
Issue : 3
Year : 2017
Start Page : 75
End Page : 79
Inventory constitutes bulk of current assets small and medium scale enterprises (SMEs) such
as bakeries, fast food/eateries, chain stores and furniture making firms. SMEs need to
understand the true costs associated with inventory management and poor inventory
productivity so as to be able to review the benefits of alternative approaches. The objective of
the study was to examine the effect of inventory management on profitability of SMEs in
Nigeria. The study used a descriptive research design. The population consists of all SMEs
operating in Delta State. The study used stratified random sampling. 10 SMEs were randomly
selected from each stratum making a total of 30 firms for the study. Data for the study were
obtained through the administration of a self-designed questionnaire to managers or
accountants of the sampled firms. The questionnaire was structured to elicit information about
the trading and financial activities for the last two accounting years. A multiple regression
analysis was conducted to test the model established for the study. Findings of the study
reveal that inventory turnover has a significant positive relationship with financial
performance of SMEs. The study also reveals that there is a negative relationship between
inventory conversion period and profitability; and no significant positive relationship between
inventory leanness and profitability. The study concludes that inventory management has a
great role to play in corporate financial performance of firms hence firms’ inventory systems
must maintain an appropriate inventory levels to enhance profitability and reduce the
inventory costs associated with holding excessive stock in the warehouses. In line with the
 findings of the study, it is recommended that firms should embrace modern production
technology that will enhance faster production to shorten inventory conversion period which
will in turn improve inventory turnover and profitability.

8. Article : Effect of Inventory Control Strategies On Inventory Record Accuracy in Kenya

Power Company, Nakuru
Journal : Journal of Investment and Management
Author(s) : Lilian Tundura, Daniel Wanyoike
Affiliation : Department of Procurement and Logistics in the School of Entrepreneurship,
Procurement and Management, Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology,
Nakuru, Kenya
Publisher : Science Publishing Group
Volume : 5
Issue : 5
Year : 2016
Start Page : 82
End Page : 92
Keywords : Inventory Control, Inventory Control Strategies, Inventory Record Accuracy
The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of inventory control strategies on
inventory record accuracy in Kenya Power Nakuru. The study looked at three inventory
control strategies; cycle counting, inventory coding and computerized inventory accuracy.
The three variables were individually and collectively related with inventory records
accuracy. The study adopted a descriptive survey. The target populations for the study
were the employees in Kenya Power Nakuru working in procurement, stores and finance
departments. Since there are only 42 employees in the departments, all the employees were
involved in the study as respondents. The researcher conducted a pilot study to test for
validity and reliability of the research instruments before the actual study. Data was then
collected through structured questionnaires that were self-administered by the researcher.
Collected data was analyzed both descriptively and inferentially. Descriptive statistics was
used to describe the study variables while correlation and regression analysis was used to
relate the research variables. Single tailed t-test was used to test the hypotheses in the
study. The study established that inventory control practices have significant positive
influence on inventory records accuracy. The study recommends that public companies as
well as private companies adopt inventory control practices as they are likely to experience
enhanced efficiency and effectiveness in inventory records. The study suggests that further
study is conducted to assess the role of management in implementing inventory control
practices and whether inventory control practices can enhance operational performance of
an organization.

9. Article : Study on Inventory Management and its Control Techniques in Wheels India
Limited
Journal : Anveshana’s International Journal of Research in Regional Studies, Law, Social
Sciences, Journalism and Management Practices
Author(s) : Revathi V, Bhuvaneshwari G
Publisher : Anveshana Educational and Research Foundation
 Volume : 1
Issue : 8
Year : 2016
Start Page : 266
End Page : 269
Keywords : Corporate Training, E-Learning Platform, Effectiveness, Multiple Linear
Regression
The term ‘inventory’ originates from the French word ‘Inventaire’ and Latin word
“inventariom’ which implies a list of things found. The more popular of them are ‘the term
inventory includes materials – raw, in process, finished packaging, spares and others stocked
in order to meet an unexpected demand or distribution in the future’. The research was
conducted mainly to study the inventory management and its control techniques in wheels
India limited. The secondary objectives were to classify various materials based on ABC
analysis, to analyse the Economic Order Quality& Economic Batch Quantity, to calculate the
Financial Ratio’s in relation with Inventory,to study trend of inventory in wheels India limited
and to provide suggestions and recommendations to improve the inventory management
controlling techniques and policies. The details regarding the history, finance and inventory
policies of the company were collected through discussion with company officers, annual
reports and stores ledger. Secondary data was collected through annual reports and stores
ledger. The data collected were analyzed with the help of inventory control techniques viz.
economic order quantity, economic batch quantity, ABC analysis, inventory ratios and
statistical tools namely correlation analysis and trend analysis. . It was found from the
research that the inventory management is a complex action because of the large amount of
material that is being used and the study reveals that the inventory management is a complex
action because of the large amount of material that is being used. The company must take
proper technique to control the inventory and it is better for the company to reduce the
inventory level to a considerable degree so that the profitability of the company might
improve by way of unnecessary locking up of capital.

10. Article : Factors Affecting Performance of Inventory Tracking and Tracing System at
Mechanical Stations in North Rift, Kenya
Journal : International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences
Author(s) : Shidiavayi D S, Wachilonga L W, Iravo, A M
Publisher : Human Resource Management Academic Research Society
Volume : 6
Issue : 7
Year : 2016
Start Page : 57
End Page : 85
Keywords : Performance
This research aims to evaluate the factors affecting effectiveness of a modern inventory
tracking system in improving the logistics performance in public sector.A survey in the
ministry of transport and infrastructure stations in the northern rift valley formed area for this
study. In today’s competitive marketplace which is characterized by rapidly changing
business requirements, leveraging leading edge technologies and adopting best practices are
 essential in order to ensure sound logistical support that guarantees both effectiveness and
efficiency in the transportation processes. The main purpose of this research project is
therefore to establish that the use of information technology is feasible in transport industries,
explain possible obstacles and also any major advantages of its implementation. Secondly, as
regards the theoretical aspect, a broadened view on the use of various positioning, and factors
affecting effective inventory management systems. Within north Rift region, the division has
no visibility progress on inventory while on transit, ware houses (stores) and relay heavily on
manual information processing. Likewise, monitoring of whereabouts of its road working
equipment to ensure they are not being misused. The region under the study has poor road
network and inadequately cellular base station coverage. Quantitative statistical methods of
analyzing limits will also be employed on the data collected from the field. Quantitative
research, known as ’number-crunching’, uses techniques that apply more to numerical data,
where researchers develop variables or concepts which can be measured, and transform them
into specific data-collection techniques.
11. Article : A Study on Relationship between Inventory Management and Company
Performance: A Case Study of Textile Chain Store
Journal : Journal of Advanced Management Science
Author(s) : Syed Jamal Abdul Nasir Bin Syed Mohamad, Nurul Nadia Suraidi, Nabihah
Amirah Abd Rahman, Raja Durratun Sakinah Raja Suhaimi
Affiliation : Universiti Teknologi Mara, Shah Alam, Malaysia
Author Email : syedjamal145@salam.uitm.edu.my
Publisher : Engineering and Technology Publishing
Volume : 4
Issue : 4
Year : 2016
Start Page : 299
End Page : 304
This paper reports the findings of an applied research on inventory management at a textile
chain store in Malaysia. It specifically examined the relationship between inventory
management and company’s performance. Interviews with the company management were
conducted to identify the inventory management issues and system used by the company. The
relationship between the inventory management and company performance was determined
based on inventory days and return on asset (ROA) analysis. The research found that
company X had a few inventory problems such as unorganized inventory arrangement, large
amount of inventory days / no cycle counting and no accurate records balance due to
unskilled workers. The study also proved that there was a significant relationship between
return on asset (ROA) and inventory days. This paper also provides recommendation to the
company and for further research.

12. Article : Online Garments Inventory Management System

Journal : International Journal of Advanced Engineering, Management and Science
Author(s) : Md Delowar Hossain, Tangina Sultana, Ashis Kumar Mandal
Affiliation : Department of Computer Science and Engineering, Hajee Mohammad Danesh
Science and Technology University, Bangladesh
Publisher : Infogain Publication
Volume : 2
Issue : 7
Year : 2016
 Start Page : 1059
End Page : 1063
Keywords : Inventory, JavaScript, Management System, Mysql, PHP
Management Systems are usually designed to enhance the efficiency of handling the
information of any system, which is running through an inefficient procedure and is
expensive, time consuming, insecure and it needs more manpower. The Online Garments
Inventory Management System is a system which makes the working procedure of present
manual system of Garments easier and increases its efficiency to a high degree. The main
objective of this application is to automate the existing system which is manually
maintaining. The whole system is accessed from different terminals of the network. There are
three major sectors in this system- employee management, product inventory and raw
materials inventory. In the employee management system all information of the employees
are stored. In the product inventory system, the invoice and the delivery information is
maintained. Raw materials inventory controls the purchase information, shipping information,
total materials of stock in the garments. The Entity Relationship model is used to design the
database that will store and organize the garments data. The data is stored in MySQL
Database Server and populated it with some sample data. Using HTML, PHP, Java Script and
CSS, an internet based graphical user interface has been created that allows garments
authority and administrator to access the system remotely.
13. Article : The Effectiveness of RFID in Backroom and Sales Floor Inventory Management
Journal : International Journal of Logistics Management
Author(s) : Sandeep Goyal, Bill C Hardgrave, John A Aloysius, Nicole Dehoratius
Affiliation : College of Business, <institution-wrap wrap>, Louisville, Kentucky, USA
Publisher : Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Volume : 27
Issue : 3
Year : 2016
Start Page : 795
End Page : 815
Keywords : Inventory Management, RFID
Purpose Perceived as an antidote to poor execution, interest in radio frequency identification
(RFID)-enabled visibility has grown. The purpose of this paper is to examine whether and
how RFID-enabled visibility with item-level tagging improves store execution.
Design/methodology/approach The authors conducted three field-based experiments in
collaboration with two Fortune 500 retailers. Findings RFID-enabled visibility resulted in a
sizable decrease in inventory record inaccuracy and out-of-stocks for inventory held in both
the backroom and on the sales floor. The decrease in inventory record inaccuracy and out-of-
stocks was even greater among products stored primarily on the sales floor suggesting the
benefits from increased visibility accrue to sales floor inventory management processes. In
contrast, the authors found no significant improvement in inventory record inaccuracy and no
substantive improvement in out-of-stocks among products stored primarily in the backroom
suggesting that increased visibility does not improve backroom management processes.
Practical implications The authors recommend retailers focus on sales floor inventory
management when seeking to improve store execution through the adoption of RFID-enabled
visibility. In the context, only partial evidence exists that backroom inventory management
improves with RFID-enabled visibility. Originality/value Retailers seeking to invest in RFID
technology must estimate potential performance improvements before making firm-specific
cost-benefit analyses. They must also understand where and how these performance
 improvements will accrue. This research uniquely presents the results of a three field
experiments that quantify the changes in retail execution associated with RFID adoption.

14. Article : Factors Affecting Efficient Stores Operations in Kenya Tea Development
Agency Managed Factories (KTDA) : A Survey of Factories in Zones 4 and 5, Kenya
Journal : International Journal of Academic Research in Accounting, Finance and
Management Sciences
Author(s) : Grace Muoni Githu, Mark Kanda
Publisher : Human Resource Management Academic Research Society
Volume : 5
Issue : 4
Year : 2015
Start Page : 46
End Page : 53
Keywords : Staff Training On Stores Operation, Records Management, Effects of
Information Technology and Proper Scheduling in Improvement of Stores Efficiency
The purpose of this study was to determine the factors affecting efficient stores operations in
KTDA managed factories in Kenya, four objectives guided the study .The study was a
descriptive research that adopted a survey design. The targeted populations were employees
working at KTDA managed factories in zones 4 and 5 at managerial levels and in store
departments. Questionnaires were used to collect data from respondents. The study employed
both quantitative and qualitative research in its data analysis. Data was presented using bar
graphs, pie charts and tables. Inferential statistics included correlation and regression analysis.
Study findings revealed that KTDA factories do not offer regular training to stores personnel
especially on store operations and management however the study further revealed that in
general IT had helped the factories streamline store operations more effectively. Respondent
further indicate that the record management system used in factories was semi-computerized
rating it to be average. The findings revealed that the current scheduling process in the KTDA
factories is poor and inventories records are rarely audited The study recommended that
KTDA factories should offer regular training programs to the employees in order to improve
their skills and knowledge. The study further recommended that they should fully
computerise record management systems in order to enhance accuracy. The study further
recommended that there was need for improvement of existing scheduling process in order to
improve service delivery in stores.

15. Article : Inventory Management of Perishable Products in a Retail Business: A

Comparison with and without Backroom In-Store Replenishment Policies
Journal : International Journal of Management and Applied Science
Author(s) : Rigzin Lhamo, Navee Chiadamrong
Publisher : Institute of Research and Journals
Volume : 1
Issue : 6
 Year : 2015
Start Page : 20
End Page : 25
Keywords : Inventory Management, Perishable Products, In-Store Replenishment
Policies, Simulation and Optimization
Traditional methods for managing the inventory are not 100% applicable in the case of
perishable products as they have shorter product life. As a result, perishable need extra
attention, otherwise high outdating and lost sales cost, which would contribute hugely for the
firms to suffer a huge loss will incur. In this paper, we studied the replenishment policies in
each scenario to manage the inventory of perishable products keeping into consideration the
age of perishable inventories. We also compared the outcomes of the replenishment policies
with and without Backroom and found out how and in what situations one policy could
outperform the others in each scenario. The results will show that in an environment, which
contain important features of the real-life retail environment, the product age based policies
will lead to substantial cost reductions as compared to the ones that does not take the age of
inventories into consideration. Index Terms- Inventory management, Perishable products, In-
store replenishment policies, Simulation

16. Article : Simultaneous Pricing and Inventory Management of Deteriorating Perishable

Products
Journal : Annals of Operations Research
Author(s) : Prashant Chintapalli
Affiliation : Indian Institute of Management, Bannerghatta Road, Bangalore, 560076, India
Author Email : chintapalli.prashant09@iimb.ernet.in
Publisher : Springer Nature
Volume : 229
Issue : 1
Year : 2015
Start Page : 287
End Page : 301
Keywords : Perishable Inventory Management, Pricing, Myopic Policy, Markov Decision
Processes
This study addresses the problem of combined pricing and inventory control in the context of
perishable goods—specifically, when demand is uncertain and price-sensitive and the
consumers are free to choose between new and old units, based on the relative affordability of
prices. First, the problem is formulated as a periodic review problem for a product with finite
arbitrary lifetime and a myopic policy, which is often followed in practice, is discussed.
Analytically it is shown that the solution obtained by the policy is also the unique solution
that maximizes the individual profits from the inventories at each age. Next, this study
addresses a special case—that of products with two-period lifetime, which is a scenario of
practical importance. It is proven that under the policy of discounts and sticky pricing, which
is often practiced in the brick-and-mortar retail stores, the myopic policy is in fact the steady-
state optimal policy of the infinite-horizon problem. The study concludes with a numerical
example and directions for future research in the area of joint pricing and inventory
management of deteriorating, perishable products.
17. Article : The Supply Chain’s Strategic Importance for AZADEA Group
Journal : Management
Author(s) : Atef H Harb, Lina Bou Chaaya
Affiliation : Notre Dame University (NDU), Lebanon.
Publisher : Scientific & Academic Publishing
Volume : 5
Issue : 2
Year : 2015
Start Page : 25
End Page : 33
Keywords : Supply Chain Strategy, Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) , AZADEA, E-
Business, Networking, Technology, Workflow, Electronic Data Interchange (EDI)
In general and through the three functions of Marketing, Operations and Finance, value for
the customer is created. However, firms seldom create this value by themselves. Instead, they
rely on a variety of suppliers who provide everything from raw materials to accounting. These
suppliers when taken together can be thought of a supply chain. AZADEA Group is one of
the retail business leaders in the Middle East welcoming shoppers at its different stores
formats spread through almost 40 brands and many different sectors. Being so diversified,
AZADEA had a huge challenge in setting a unified supply chain process, thus, the Group and
through its professional team was able to set a detailed list of requirements to be followed in
order to consolidate its data and to manage properly the flow of merchandise from the source
to the destination. This research will describe how it is done through a vast literature review.
The purpose of the research is to provide insights into the importance of the supply chain
strategy and ERP integration for AZADEA group. This will ensure a proper integration and
will highlight the flow of information of the supply chain helping the group to minimize the
inventory cost and being a competitive Advantage. Also, The Electronic Data interchange
(EDI) will contribute in the replenishment during the season and the analysis done over the
historical data identify the best/worst selling items per shop and define the forecasted order of
the upcoming season. The optimization is highly recommended to maintain a sustainable
workflow of the supply chain along to the forecasted expansion. To achieve our goal, a
secondary data will be used. Results found showed that Although AZADEA Group has
developed an ERP system within its community, where a clear vision is possible at all stages
to improve the communication between different parties internally and with the supplier
externally, the Group is still in need to go further in the development of applications to
optimize its resources.

18. Article : Promotion Planning and Supply Chain Contracting in a High-Low Pricing
Environment
Journal : Production and Operations Management
Author(s) : Andreas Breiter, Arnd Huchzermeier
Affiliation : Chair of Production Management, WHU&mdash;Otto Beisheim School of
Management, Vallendar, Germany
Author Email : andreas.breiter@whu.edu
 Publisher : John Wiley and Sons, Ltd
Volume : 24
Issue : 2
Year : 2015
Start Page : 219
End Page : 236
Keywords : Supply Chain Management, Risk Management, Price Promotions, Retailing
Demand forecast errors threaten the profitability of high-low price promotion strategies. This
article shows how to match demand and supply effectively by means of two-segment demand
forecasting and supply contracts. We find that demand depends on the path of past retail
prices, which leads to only a limited number of reachable demand states. However, forecast
errors cannot be entirely eliminated because competitive promotions entail some degree of
random (i.e., last-minute) pricing. A hedging approach can be deployed to distribute demand
risk efficiently over multiple promotional campaigns and within the supply chain. A retailer
that employs a portfolio of forward, option, and spot contracts can avoid both stockouts and
excess inventories while achieving the first-best solution and Pareto improvements. We
provide an improved forecasting method as well as stochastic programs to solve for optimal
production and purchasing policies such that the right amount of inventory is available at the
right time. By connecting a stockpiling model of demand with the supply side, we derive
insights on optimal risk management strategies for both manufacturers and retailers in a
market environment characterized by frequent price promotions and multiple discount levels.
We employ a data set of the German retail market for a key generator of store traffic--namely,
diapers.

19. Article : Study on MMF and Inventory Index on Inventory Management Practices at a
Medical College Teaching Hospital
Journal : IOSR Journal of Business and Management
Author(s) : Arun Mavaji Seetharam, Somu G, Sudhakar Kantipudi, Jibu Thomas,
Nagaraj, Sujith Kumar
Affiliation : Department of Hospital Administration, Kasturba Medical College,Manipal,
Manipal University, Manipal, India
Publisher : International Organization of Scientific Research
Volume : 17
Issue : 4
Year : 2015
Start Page : 60
End Page : 65
Keywords : Inventory Management, Monthly Maintenance Figures, Inventory Index
Materials management is an important issue for healthcare systems because it influences
clinical and financial outcomes. Reducing costs in hospital inventory management is always
critical for administrators at health care institutions. The study attempts to assess two
techniques, Monthly maintenance figures and Inventory Index which have contributed to
efficient management of Inventory at a large tertiary care teaching hospital. Aim:To evaluate
the best practices in material management at a general stores of a tertiary care teaching
hospital.
20. Article : Stores or Warehouse Design and Operations: Assessing its Effectiveness, Case
Study of Regional Medical Stores, Kumasi
Journal : European Journal of Business and Management
Author(s) : Appah Kenneth Asiamah, Agyekum Emmanuel, Gloria Pokua-Duah
Publisher : International Institute for Science, Technology and Education
Volume : 7
Issue : 32
Year : 2015
Start Page : 67
End Page : 72
Keywords : Warehouse or Stores, Operations, Design, Distribution Center (DC) ,
Inventory, Stock Control, Drugs and Non-Drugs, Layout, Order
Storing is an integral part of every logistics systems and plays a vital role in providing a
desired level of customer service at the lowest possible cost. Storage and operations are linked
in that, the producer or manufacturer sends the ordered products or items to the purchaser
who receives and stores them and finally distributes or serves its customers. There is therefore
the need for those units to operate together to serve the markets (various districts) to have
value for money and customer satisfaction.More so, determining the size and number of
warehouse facilities are interrelated decisions in that they have an inverse relationship; that is,
as the number of warehouse increases, the average size of each warehouse decrease. The
general trend is to have fewer, but larger warehouses in an organization’s distribution
system.In addition, one of the more important decisions facing logistics executives is how to
determine the size and number of organization’s warehouses. To this effect, where should
these facilities be located? Finally, each warehouse must be laid out and designed properly in
order to maximize efficiency and productivity.Warehouse stores all products, where these
distribution centers (DC) hold minimum inventories and predominantly high-demand items
(Stock, 1993). These warehouses handle most products in four cycles (receive, store, ship and
pick). Warehousing is used for the storage of inventories during all phases of the logistics
process. In simple terms, two basic types of inventory exist: (1). Raw materials, components,
and parts (Physical supply); and (2). Finished goods (physical distribution) (Stock & Lambert,
2001). There also may be goods-in-process inventory, although in many firms such as the
Regional Medical Store-Kumasi, goods-in-process constitute only a small portion of its total
investment in inventories. The study examined the effectiveness of Stores or Warehouses
design and operations. The objectives of the researchers were to examine how the RMS has
effectively designed its stores and warehouse and how it operates.The research looks at the
effectiveness of stores or warehouse design and its operations as a case study. This is a fact-
finding study which seeks to find out the design of warehouses and the storage and
distribution of products and materials at and between point of origin and point of
consumption, and provides information to management on the status, conditions and
disposition of items being stored (Lambert et al, 1998). The researchers used purposive
random sampling technique.

21. Article : Developing Inventory Management in Hospital

Journal : International Journal of Supply Chain Management
 Author(s) : Duangpun Kritchanchai, Watcharaphong Meesamut
Affiliation : Department of Industrial Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Mahidol
University, Nakornpathom, Thailand
Author Email : duangpun.skr@mahidol.ac.th
Publisher : ExcelingTech Publisher
Volume : 4
Issue : 2
Year : 2015
Keywords : Inventory Management, Hospital, Drug, Clinical Importance
Single inventory policy has been applied to entire types of drugs in hospitals, despite several
different drug and demand characteristics. Shortages regularly occur, which may affect
patients’ lives, especially when vital drugs are being administered to them. However,
hospitals cannot store a large amount of every drug because of limited space and budget. The
objective of this study was to develop a hospital inventory management system to minimise
the total inventory costs, while maintaining patient safety levels. This study is concerned only
with the medicines that have a high consumption value and took place in a large public
hospital in Thailand. The most suitable policies are proposed for each drug category with the
best performance obtained.The historical demand is classified by drug characteristics,
consumption value and clinical importance, as well as the demand characteristics. We applied
it and compared it with the current inventory policy (Min/Max), and inventory policies from
previous studies, in order to investigate the most suitable inventory policy for each drug
category and demand characteristic. The study found that a single inventory management
system cannot be effectively applied for all medicines. This is because there are also
categories of medicines characterised by their value and clinical importance. This is called the
ABC/VEN classification. The inventory management in hospitals should be fitted to drug
categories and demand characteristics, which are quite unique in the healthcare supply chain
and are different from those applied to [KK1] general manufacturing.

22. Article : Effect of Inventory Control Management on Mumias Sugar Retailers’

Satisfaction Level: A Survey of Mumias Sugar Retailers in Kiambu County, Kenya
Journal : International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences
Author(s) : Maigua Martin, Amuhaya Iravo
Publisher : Human Resource Management Academic Research Society
Volume : 4
Issue : 12
Year : 2014
Start Page : 83
End Page : 100
Keywords : Inventory Control Management, Retailers Satisfaction Level
This study aimed at exploring the effect of inventory control management on Mumias sugar
retailers’ satisfaction level with a view of assessing its impacts and proposing a framework
for improving retailers’ satisfaction level. The objectives of the study included: examining the
effect of warehousing and distribution on Mumias sugar retailers’ satisfaction level;
determining the effect of stock replenishment methods on Mumias sugar retailers’ satisfaction
level; establishing the effect of inventory storage and retrieval systems on Mumias sugar
 retailers’ satisfaction level and to determine the effect of inventory costs on Mumias sugar
retailers’ satisfaction level. The target population consisted of Mumias sugar retail outlets in
Kiambu County and employed systematic random sampling technique. The sample size
consisted of a total population of nighty seven (97) respondents who were shared equally
among the three major constituencies of Kiambu County. This study adopted a descriptive
research design and the findings of this survey were derived from descriptive data analysis
based on the research questions presented to the target population. A response rate of 89%
was obtained. Findings indicated that improved and efficient inventory control management
had reduced the deterioration of sugar in the store; this has also improved satisfaction level of
the retailers. Kiambu County Mumias sugar retailers prefer using continues review method to
control the inventory in the warehouses. There is a strong deviation from the manual systems,
thus many of the Mumias sugar retailers in the county had moved from using manual paper
systems to automated system which is a more easier and efficient way of controlling the flow
of sugar in their stores thus making sure that there is no sugar shortage in the warehouse. The
major cost incurred by the Mumias sugar retailers in Kiambu County is the transport cost.
23. Article : Inventory Management System (Review Paper)
Journal : International Journal of Enhanced Research in Management and Computer
Applications
Author(s) : Khushwant Singh
Publisher : Enhanced Research Publications
Volume : 3
Issue : 8
Year : 2014
Start Page : 5
End Page : 8
Keywords : Inventory Management System.
With the rapid development of network technology, the Web applications are used more
widely, and the higher requirements on the Web system has been pursued by many people.
This paper describes the Inventory Management System sufficiently to determine the
feasibility and usability of a finished system. The core concept is to track the sale of items
from the cash registers with additional features for interpreting the data. It uses a client-server
model with a connected database to allow multiple stores and warehouses to be connected.
This allows for later expansion while still supporting the targeted small businesses. The core
features and final framework should be completed within 2 weeks, leaving 5 weeks to
implement additional features and testing. According to the practical demands of the Back-
state management of the B2C Shopping Mall and Inventory management system.

24. Article : Association Rules in Data Mining: An Application on a Clothing and Accessory
Specialty Store
Journal : Canadian Social Science
Author(s) : Mutlu Yüksel Avcilar, Emre Yakut
Affiliation : Osmaniye Korkut Ata University, Osmaniye, Turkey
Publisher : Canadian Academy of Oriental and Occidental Culture
Volume : 10
Issue : 3
 Year : 2014
Start Page : 75
End Page : 83
Keywords : Specialty Retailer Store, Data Mining, Association Rules
Retailers provide important functions that increase the value of the products and services they
sell to consumers. Retailers value creating functions are providing assortment of products and
services: breaking bulk, holding inventory, and providing services. For a long time, retail
store managers have been interested in learning about within and cross-category purchase
behavior of their customers, since valuable insights for designing marketing and/or targeted
cross-selling programs can be derived. Especially, parallel to the development of information
processing and communication technologies, it has become possible to transfer customers
shopping information into databases with the help of barcode technology. Data mining is the
technique presenting significant and useful information using of lots of data. Association rule
mining is realized by using market basket analysis to discover relationships among items
purchased by customers in transaction databases. In this study, association rules were
estimated by using market basket analysis and taking support, confidence and lift measures
into consideration. In the process of analysis, by using of data belonging to the year of 2012
from a clothing and accessory specialty store operating in the province of Osmaniye, a set of
data related to 42.390 sales transactions including 9.000 different product kinds in 35
different product categories (SKU) were used. Analyses were carried out with the help of
SPSS Clementine packet program and hence 25.470 rules were determined.

25. Article : Updating Inventories of Substitutable Resources in Response to Forecast

Updates
Journal : Production and Operations Management
Author(s) : Saurabh Bansal, James S Dyer
Affiliation : The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvannia, USA,
Author Email : sub32@psu.edu
Publisher : John Wiley and Sons, Ltd
Volume : 23
Issue : 3
Year : 2014
Start Page : 477
End Page : 488
Keywords : Substitutable Resources, Forecast Updates, Inventory Updates, Structural
Properties Of Multi-Product Newsvendor Problems
We show simple yet optimal results to update the inventory/capacity levels, expected profit,
fill rates, and service levels of substitutable resources in response to an updating of the mean
demand forecasts for the resources. We find that a change in the mean demand of one
resource does not affect the optimal inventory level of any other resource. The results are
obtained for demands with location-scale distribution, and for a revenue structure satisfying a
triangle property such that the manager will always use the inventory of a resource to meet
her own demand first before using it for substitution. The results for updating the performance
measures also extend to managers who maintain non-optimal inventory/capacity levels.
Implications for procurement, sales and operational planning, and multi-store operations are
 discussed.

26. Article : Pulling Drugs along the Supply Chain: Centralization of Hospitals' Inventory
Journal : International Journal of Engineering Business Management
Author(s) : Iannone Raffaele, Lambiase Alfredo, Miranda Salvatore, Riemma Stefano,
Sarno Debora
Affiliation : Department of Industrial Engineering, University of Salerno, Fisciano, Italy
Publisher : SAGE Publications
Volume : 6
Year : 2014
Keywords : Pharmaceutical SCM, Drug Inventory Management, GPO, Electronic Medical
Records, Material Requirement Planning
Due to the economic crisis and the predominance of drug expenditure in healthcare costs, the
cooperation of groups of hospitals to negotiate with suppliers and centralize warehouses has
been a recent trend in the pharmaceutical supply chain.This paper shows the economic
convenience of centralizing the hospitals' inventory decisions (how much/when to order)
based on the sharing of medical prescriptions of patients along the supply chain.The logistic
network under investigation (TO BE model) integrates: a central pharmacy negotiating with
suppliers, collecting hospital orders, storing and distributing materials; a number of hospitals
feeding their medical units with materials; and a number of medical units taking care of their
patients.The study is carried out comparing the cost performances of the proposed model with
a non-cooperative one(in which hospitals manage their stocks individually) by means of
simulation.

27. Article : Trends in Inventory Management in Healthcare Sector in India-Issues and

Challenges
Journal : Apotheosis
Author(s) : Anil Sarda, Yogesh Gharpure
Publisher : Tirpude Institute of Management Education, Nagpur
Volume : 4
Issue : 2
Year : 2014
Keywords : Inventory Management, Supply Chain, Health Service, Drug Store, Essential
Drugs
India’s healthcare sector is growing at a very fast pace. Its contribution to its GDP is also
significant in view of providing employment. In view of this the growth in the next decade
will be closely monitored to improve its presence. An ideal healthcare system emphasises
much of its importance on primarily four criteria’s – Universal access, fair distribution,
training providers, and special attention to vulnerable groups of the society.
28. Article : Inventory Management – a Tool for Optimal Use of Resources and Overall
Efficiency in Manufacturing Smes
Journal : Journal of Entrepreneurship, Management and Innovation
Author(s) : Olusakin Akindipe S
Publisher : Nowy Sacz Business School National-Louis University
Volume : 10
Issue : 4
Year : 2014
Keywords : Inventory Management, Production Operation, Manufacturing Organizations,
Smes, Resources, Optimization, Entrepreneur
Observation shows that there is a serious problem regarding inventory management in
manufacturing organizations, particularly in Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs). This has
prompted the desire to embark on a study that will examine the problem and strive to proffer
useful suggestions. This paper intends to bring to the fore the salient issue of inefficiency in
the practice of inventory management and its effects on production operations of
manufacturing concerns. Survey design was used with the application of random sampling
technique in selection of units within the case study areas. Primary data were collected
through the use of structured questionnaires and the analysis was done using Pearson
correlation coefficient and frequency counts and percentages to give adequate descriptions.
The study concluded that efficient management of stock would be achieved through
determination of stock levels, engagement of skilled store personnel, and the use of automated
stock control. It went further to assert that the achievement of optimal use of resources
through efficiency in the management of stock will eliminate the problems of sudden lack of
stock; the resultant low capacity utilization, loss of production time, and thereby improving
overall efficiency of the manufacturing SMEs and breed high performing entrepreneurs.

29. Article : Inventory Management by Implementation of Abc Analysis upon Medium Scale
Industry
Journal : International Journal of Scientific Research
Author(s) : Sanjeev Singh Chouhan, Abhishek Yadav
Publisher : World Wide Journals
Volume : 2
Issue : 8
Year : 2013
Keywords : Inventory Management;Raw Materials;Materials Management;Production
Process;Inventory Control
Conversion of raw materials into finished goods is the main function of every production
firm. Required raw materials if purchased and stocked in advance, ensures smooth production
process. But, how much should be purchased? How to stock it? How to release the stock?
What costs are involved? How to control the costs of acquiring and storing materials? All
these issues call for Materials Management. Materials management involves Materials
acquiring-purchasing, receiving and storing, inventory control, disposal of surplus and control
on scrap. Effective materials management is key to a firm’s profitability. The purpose of this
 paper is to investigate the reasons behind the inventory management inefficiency in Industry
by implementation of ABC, and then the proposed managerial suggestions will be presented
to deal with the issues.

30. Article : Analyzing the Efficient Execution of in-Store Logistics Processes in Grocery
Retailing--The Case of Dairy Products
Journal : Production and Operations Management
Author(s) : Gerald Reiner, Christoph Teller, Herbert Kotzab
Affiliation : Faculty of Economics and Business, Universit&eacute; de Neuch&acirc;tel,
Neuch&acirc;tel, Switzerland
Author Email : gerald.reiner@unine.ch
Publisher : John Wiley and Sons, Ltd
Volume : 22
Issue : 4
Year : 2013
Start Page : 924
End Page : 939
Keywords : In-Store Logistics, Data Envelopment Analysis, Process Simulation, Grocery
Retailing
In this article, we examine in-store logistics processes for handling dairy products, from the
incoming dock to the shelves of supermarkets and hypermarkets. The efficient execution of
the in-store logistics related to such fast-moving, sensitive, and essential items is challenging
and crucial for grocery retailers' sales, profits, and image. In our empirical study, we survey
in-store logistics processes in 202 grocery supermarkets and hypermarkets belonging to a
major retail chain in central Europe. Using a data envelopment analysis (DEA) and
simulation, we facilitate process benchmarking. In particular, we identify ways of improving
in-store logistics processes by showing the performance impacts of different managerial
strategies and tactics. The DEA results indicate different efficiency levels for different store
formats; the hybrid store format of the small hypermarket exhibits a comparatively worse
performance in the analyzed execution of in-store logistics processes. The process simulation
analysis reveals that the strategic and tactical design of in-store logistics processes (such as
store locations/layouts, capacity management, reorder time, order period, and safety stock
factors) lead to substantial service performance improvements (such as higher on-shelf
availability combined with reduced inventory obsolescence costs). The results also show
marginal improvements in the performance figures when delivery delays and damage to
products are reduced.