Supply Chain, Logistics and Inventory

What this page covers

The page sits in the Planning and Supply Chain strand of Industrial engineering and quality. Most of it is about inventory: how much to order, when to order and how to keep stock under control. Around that core you will find transport, procurement, ordering processes and reverse logistics.

Where to start

Begin with the quiz MGT 325 Exam 3. It asks about the A-B-C system, including the typical share of items that are A items and which items make up most of the dollar volume. Your answers show whether classification is clear before you move on.

Next, open the mind map Ch 8. Quantity and Inventory. It is organised around three questions: how much to acquire, when to acquire and how to inventory effectively. The Inventory Decision making map adds dependent versus independent demand and pull versus push.

Building up the detail

• The Inventory Control flashcards ask about the five inventory categories, the three major inventory decisions and the EOQ model.
• The newspaper vendor model flashcards cover the cost of overstock and the cost of understock.
• The quiz SCO 3001 Chapter 16 tests dependent demand, which comes from higher level assemblies and subassemblies and is not forecast.
• The Reverse Logistics map lists drivers such as economic, marketing and legislative ones.

Using quizzes and maps together

Read a map first, then take a quiz on the same topic. Note the questions you missed, go back to the branch that explains them, and try again. Flashcards suit short, repeated checks of terms.

The page also holds flowcharts on ordering and order processing, and the notes on the Barilla case, which mention 800 SKUs and a rigid production process. They show how the ideas look in practice.

Your next step

Pick one map that matches what you are studying now, then test yourself with a quiz. Make your own cards for any term that keeps slipping.