Duration 2 Days – 14 hrs.

 

Overview

This course provides participants with the essential knowledge and practical techniques required to manage inventory effectively. It covers inventory planning, demand forecasting, stock control, inventory valuation, warehouse coordination, performance measurement, and methods for reducing excess stock and shortages.

Participants will learn how to maintain the right inventory levels, improve stock accuracy, reduce carrying costs, and support efficient purchasing, warehousing, and customer-service operations.

 

Objectives

• Explain the role and importance of inventory management.
• Identify different types and classifications of inventory.
• Balance product availability with inventory-related costs.
• Apply ABC analysis and other inventory-classification techniques.
• Calculate reorder points, safety stock, and economic order quantity.
• Use basic demand-forecasting methods for inventory planning.
• Implement effective stock-replenishment and control procedures.
• Conduct accurate inventory counts and resolve stock discrepancies.
• Identify obsolete, slow-moving, and excess inventory.
• Measure inventory performance using relevant KPIs.
• Develop practical actions to improve inventory accuracy and efficiency.

 

Target Audience 

• Inventory officers and inventory controllers
• Warehouse personnel and supervisors
• Supply chain and logistics staff
• Procurement and purchasing personnel
• Materials planners
• Production and operations personnel
• Storekeepers and stock custodians
• Finance and accounting personnel involved in inventory
• Business owners and managers responsible for stock management
• Employees preparing for inventory-management responsibilities

 

Prerequisites 

• Basic knowledge of business or warehouse operations
• Familiarity with purchasing, inventory, or supply chain processes
• Basic spreadsheet and mathematical skills
• Participants may bring sample inventory data for use during practical exercises, subject to company confidentiality policies.

 

Course Outline

 

Day 1: Inventory Management Fundamentals and Planning

Module 1: Introduction to Inventory Management 

• Definition and purpose of inventory
• Importance of effective inventory management
• Role of inventory within the supply chain
• Objectives of inventory control
• Relationship between inventory, customer service, and profitability
• Common inventory-management challenges

 Module 2: Types and Classification of Inventory 

• Raw materials
• Work-in-process inventory
• Finished goods
• Maintenance, repair, and operating supplies
• Transit and buffer inventory
• Independent and dependent demand
• ABC inventory classification
• Other classification methods: FSN, VED, and XYZ analysis
• Setting appropriate controls for each inventory category

 Module 3: Inventory Costs 

• Purchasing and acquisition costs
• Ordering costs
• Inventory carrying or holding costs
• Stockout and shortage costs
• Obsolescence, damage, and shrinkage costs
• Balancing inventory availability and cost
• Understanding total inventory cost

 Module 4: Demand Forecasting and Inventory Planning 

• Importance of demand forecasting
• Qualitative and quantitative forecasting methods
• Historical demand and consumption analysis
• Moving averages and trend analysis
• Seasonal and irregular demand
• Forecast accuracy and common forecasting errors
• Translating forecasts into inventory requirements

 Module 5: Inventory Replenishment Techniques 

• Minimum and maximum stock levels
• Reorder point calculation
• Lead-time analysis
• Safety-stock calculation
• Economic Order Quantity
• Fixed-order quantity and periodic-review systems
• Just-in-Time inventory concepts
• Material Requirements Planning overview
• Practical inventory calculation exercises

  

Day 2: Inventory Control, Accuracy, and Improvement

Module 6: Inventory Receiving and Issuance Controls 

• Receiving and inspection procedures
• Verification against purchase orders and delivery documents
• Stock identification, coding, and labeling
• Proper recording of inventory movements
• Stock issuance and authorization procedures
• Returns, rejected items, and damaged goods
• Maintaining traceability and an audit trail

 Module 7: Inventory Storage and Stock Rotation 

• Principles of effective inventory storage
• Warehouse layout and location management
• Bin-location and stock-identification systems
• FIFO, FEFO, and LIFO concepts
• Handling perishable, sensitive, and high-value items
• Stock rotation and shelf-life monitoring
• Warehouse safety and housekeeping

 Module 8: Inventory Records and Stock Accuracy 

• Manual and computerized inventory records
• Stock cards, bin cards, and inventory ledgers
• Inventory-management systems and barcode technology
• Common causes of inventory discrepancies
• Cycle counting and periodic physical inventory
• Preparing for a stock count
• Investigating and reconciling variances
• Controls for preventing inventory errors and fraud

 Module 9: Managing Excess, Slow-Moving, and Obsolete Inventory 

• Identifying slow-moving and non-moving items
• Inventory-aging analysis
• Causes of excess and obsolete inventory
• Strategies for reducing surplus stock
• Disposal, return, transfer, and liquidation options
• Preventing future inventory accumulation

 Module 10: Inventory Performance Measurement 

• Inventory turnover ratio
• Days inventory outstanding
• Stock accuracy rate
• Stockout and service-level measures
• Fill rate and order-fulfillment performance
• Carrying-cost measurement
• Inventory aging and obsolescence rate
• Developing an inventory-performance dashboard

 Module 11: Inventory Risk Management and Continuous Improvement 

• Common inventory risks and control weaknesses
• Inventory loss, theft, damage, and shrinkage prevention
• Segregation of duties and authorization controls
• Root-cause analysis for inventory problems
• Process standardization and documentation
• Applying continuous-improvement principles
• Creating an inventory-improvement action plan

 Module 12: Practical Workshop and Assessment 

• Inventory classification exercise
• Reorder point, safety stock, and EOQ calculations
• Inventory discrepancy case study
• Inventory KPI interpretation
• Development of an inventory-control improvement plan
• Knowledge assessment and course recap