Track: Inventory Control

Abstract

Inventory control presents a major issue in supply chain management. Many businesses understand the importance of an effective inventory management system. When dealing with demand fluctuations, proper inventory management assists in providing a high level of customer service. The necessity for an integrated approach to inventory management had become vital especially in the current complex supply chain networks where inventories are located throughout the system as raw materials or finished goods. Multi-echelon inventory management allows considering various challenges and issues related to the interdependencies between different stages of the supply chain. Stocks of raw materials, components, and finished goods are all interrelated in production. Multiple multi-echelon inventory models for production systems were developed by researchers to solve issues related to either the supply chain efficiency or responsiveness. In this paper, we provide a literature review on multi-echelon inventory management policies for the assembly structure. Different alternatives for managing multi-echelon inventory systems for the case of assembly systems are generated.