warehousing
Inventory Management
Designing and delivering the policy your business needs
What We Offer
Inventory Management
Designing and delivering the policy your business needs
Designing and delivering the policy your business needs.
We can design and deliver the inventory management policy your business needs.
Inventory management is the science of efficiently balancing inventory cost with product availability. Businesses hold inventory for many reasons — most commonly to ensure continued supply where demand and supply rates differ, known as the decoupling point.
There are, of course, other strategic reasons to hold inventory, including:
Counteracting seasonal production cycles.
Servicing non‑forecast or variable demand.
Securing bulk purchase discounts.
Regardless of the reason, the fundamental principle of inventory management remains the same — to balance stock levels with required service levels. Inventory represents a significant investment, and our goal is to ensure it is minimised wherever possible without compromising service performance.
Our consultants combine analytical modelling with real‑world operational insight to design inventory policies that deliver lean, responsive, and cost‑efficient supply chains.
HOW WE CAN HELP
Our areas of Inventory Management
Inventory management is a science — yet many businesses still rely on rules of thumb, such as holding arbitrary ‘just in case’ stock or maintaining a set number of weeks’ supply. These approaches often lead to inefficiency, higher costs, and poor service levels.
Our consultants bring significant expertise across the full spectrum of inventory management — from demand forecasting and policy alignment to stock location, handling, and storage decisions. We help businesses determine the optimal inventory levels and ensure stock is stored, retrieved, and replenished in the most cost‑effective and service‑efficient way, driving both profitability and resilience in supply chain operations.
ROP Invetory Optimisation
Reorder Point (ROP) Inventory Management
Many businesses operate using the Reorder Point (ROP) technique, an approach best suited to operations where demand for a product is perpetual, even if demand levels are uncertain. The ROP methodology works to minimise inventory while ensuring targeted product availability, striking a balance between cost efficiency and service reliability.
Our consultants help businesses apply ROP effectively, ensuring inventory targets are based on data rather than arbitrary rules such as holding “x weeks of supply” or maintaining “just in case” stock. You can read more about inventory optimisation using the ROP technique in our section on Inventory Optimisation.
Portfolio Management
ABC Inventory Analysis
Inventory management is about balancing costs against product availability and service performance. However, this relationship is not binary — some products are more critical than others and therefore require higher levels of availability.
To ensure that cash invested in inventory is allocated in proportion to a product’s importance, an ABC analysis should be undertaken. Our consultants can rapidly classify products and design a portfolio review process that evaluates each item against key criteria such as margin, sales frequency, strategic fit, and volume. This ensures inventory investment is optimised, supporting both efficiency and customer service goals.
Demand Planning
Inventory Levels & Demand Planning
Inventory levels can be calculated using historical transactions and sales forecasts — but to truly protect service performance, it is best to use both. A trusted and useful forecast depends on having a meaningful demand planning process that captures forecast error and builds it into inventory management calculations.
By integrating demand planning with inventory management, businesses can ensure that stock levels are not only efficient but also resilient against uncertainty. You can read more about how we design and deliver effective demand planning processes in our section on Demand Forecasting.
Invetory Management Audits
Our inventory consultants can perform a rapid audit of your inventory management policy and adherence, providing a baseline against which improvements can be identified and implemented. This ensures your business operates in line with best practice and maximises efficiency.
The audit covers a wide range of checks, including portfolio management, forecast accuracy measurement, slow‑moving and obsolescence management, stock availability, and the methods used to calculate inventory targets. By highlighting gaps and opportunities, the audit provides actionable insights to strengthen inventory control and improve overall supply chain performance.