Literature Review

I. Introduction
As the world changes and the Covid-19 outbreak spreads, it has a large economic impact,
particularly in the business sector, where things that protect people from viruses have become a
need and other commodities have been supplanted. It's tough to maintain track of supplies due to
strict border-to-border rules. It also has an impact on many aspects of a company, including
operations, financial records, and the delivery of a wide range of product and service information.
However, as technology and analytics improve, it is hard to overlook the benefits of these tools in
making work easier and more competitive (Lopienski, K., 2019). By assuring the number of
supplies in the warehouse and the company's inventory, it improves supply chain management. By
switching manual inventory counting to automated inventory counting, it offers a new opportunity
and productive working manner.
Inventory, on the other hand, is the heart of the business, as it creates money or income that
is required to run the firm. It's like a cycle in which resources are transformed into goods, which
are then passed to customers' hands as a consequence of monetary purchases. If an inventory is
decreased to zero, the corporation faces a danger of resources being depleted, resulting in no
finished items when demand increases (Usama, 2012). As a result, inventory management is a
delicate process and a demanding responsibility in any business. While converting resources into
commodities, it was also vital to have a deeper understanding of the inventory management
system. As a result, inventory control is critical to nearly every sort of organization, whether it is
product or service-oriented. Inventory management affects practically every aspect of the business.
As a result, a correct balance must be established to keep a proper inventory with the least amount
of financial damage.
Furthermore, knowing the various control techniques to be used is necessary to have access
to the size of the company's inventory, manage it effectively, and steer it to a successful end it
decreases the danger of demand and output variations, as well as maintaining a smooth flow of the
company's inventory, through effective control (Akrani G., 2012). It guarantees that there is no
stock out in the warehouse, especially when it is needed, by establishing a reasonable minimum
and maximum amount of materials. It is critical to the enhancement of service while lowering costs
(Melanie, 2017). Inventory management also seeks to guarantee that items are available in
adequate quantities when needed while minimizing inventory investment.
So, to comprehend the nature of inventory management and how it may be applied to an
organization, particularly during a crisis, this article investigates inventory control techniques as
follows for an effective inventory management system.

II. Main Body

Inventory is created mostly as a result of acquiring raw materials and parts. It refers to the
number of raw materials, supplies, work-in-progress, and finished stock that is preserved or saved
for future use. Also known as inventory, it is a collection of resources or items used in the
manufacturing process, half-completed goods, and final goods desired by the market and
customers. Thus, inventory management deals with demand forecasting, raw material, and
commodities asset management, inventory carrying the cost, prediction, pricing, and validation of
items, as well as projecting future demand. The best ways to make this procedure possible are to
assist top-level managers in understanding and coordinating with supply chain management or
production management, as well as quality management and ensuring that finished goods
demanded by the market and consumers, half-work finished goods and materials or goods provided
for the production process are in good condition.

Additionally, inventory reduction is the outcome of normal use and the process of reducing
inventory levels to satisfy consumer requests. It leads to a key concept in lean manufacturing:
achieving zero or very minimal inventory. It may foresee the essential measures on how to regulate
inventories through visual communication, such as eliminating obsolete stock from the inventory
and reducing the carried number of stock-outs. As a result, it minimizes material maintenance and
waste, lowers the risk of profit loss, improves business flexibility and supply chain management,
and saves money that can be used for other operations. There is also a financial benefit that
introduces the reduction just like lowering the carrying cost of inventory as the business carries
lower volumes of excess inventory in the supply chain. Aside from that, using an internet platform
could help a warehouse reduce the amount of needless inventory. The entire operation can also be
switched to a Just-in-Time concept. It aids in the evaluation of inventory items by calculating the
inventory turnover ratio and economic order amount, as well as using ABCXYZ analysis,
inventory optimization, and a tool like Eazy Stock to identify which inventory to prioritize.

Besides, the optimum inventory investment can lower the risk of typical inventory
problems and ensure that regular demand is met without a stock out. It saves excessive storage
costs in the face of logistical systems. This introduces inventory management, which can help
increase order fulfillment and also be a cost-effective part of the business. A proper warehouse
management system, visibility, integrated data backup, and a growth in sales will all be required
to optimize warehouse inventory management. If the appropriate stock level is disregarded, the
company may suffer significant ramifications and endure serious consequences. ShipBob,
technology provides the best fulfillment solution that can be used to help maintain optimized
inventory and reduced logistics that prepares the firm for an unexpected outcome. Vandells
Warehouse Connect can also help you manage your supply chain. Furthermore, the Wilson Model
automatically organizes tasks like stock choosing and replenishment, as well as the GAP analysis,
which is used to describe the differences and gaps in financial situations. The ideal behavior for
achieving a return on investment is to provide the proper amount of goods to consumers.

Moreover, purchasing decisions have a direct impact on inventory control and the
management of accurate inventory stock levels in a business. Good purchasing and inventory
control practices streamline purchasing and inventory control processes to reduce holding costs
and ensure inventory levels are replenished on time. Purchase management is fundamentally about
saving money and increasing profits, and it is an essential function for any wholesale, distribution,
or manufacturing business. Efficient purchase management gives wholesalers a great opportunity
to increase profits by controlling the costs of the inventory stock required to run their business. To
maximize an organization's profitability, products and services must be purchased at the best
possible price and quality. Purchasing strategies are necessary to guarantee the most cost-effective
outcomes and should be developed by a basic purchasing cycle to best manage all necessary
functions from a single centralized location. Excess inventory costs money to keep and represents
an opportunity cost when the money could have been better spent elsewhere. Purchase
management is important because the process of acquiring the right goods at the right price and at
the right time is crucial. If you pay too much for the stock you need in your retail or manufacturing
business, your profits will suffer. Every organization must use a scientific and analytical approach
to determining the need and type of materials, the right supplier, and the smooth flow of materials.
The efficient procurement of materials is critical to the successful completion of the work. Poor
material planning and control, a lack of material when needed, poor material identification, re-
handling, and insufficient storage cause labor productivity losses and overall delays, which can
indirectly increase the total project cost. These costs can be reduced by effective material
management.

Withal, inventory forecasting is the practice of determining the inventory required to fulfill
future client requests based on the amount of merchandise you anticipate selling over a certain
period. To be as precise as possible, these forecasts take into account historical sales data,
upcoming promotions, and external pressures. It's critical because bad inventory forecasting may
have a subtle but significant influence on your organization, eroding profitability, reputation, and
customer happiness. It's also designed for a business's finished items, components, and service
parts. The production team uses the forecast to determine purchase order triggers, quantities, and
safety stock levels. Furthermore, it is dynamic and should be evaluated by management frequently
to ensure that information on future trends, the internal or external environment, and other factors
are factored into the prediction for more accurate computation. It helps firms to plan their future
steps and develop budgets that, presumably, will cover any potential risks. The prediction provides
a clue to future demand for the planner, but no forecast is completely correct. However, in
estimating future demand for a company's products, the planners' expertise and understanding of
the existing and future environment is critical.

In addition, inventory control, often known as stock control, is the act of ensuring that an
organization has the proper number of supplies on hand. The approach guarantees the organization
to satisfy consumer demand and provides financial flexibility by implementing proper internal and
production controls. When done correctly, it helps businesses to examine their present financial
situation in terms of assets, account balances, and financial reports. Inventory control can assist
you to prevent issues like out-of-stock (stock out) situations. For instance, the Manjakon company
predicted that it lost $2 billion in sales in 2021 due to insufficient inventory control methods that
resulted in stock-outs. Furthermore, it is the action of reviewing a store's inventory and maintaining
it at desirable levels while keeping the organization's best economic interests in mind. Simply,
inventory control is the act of ensuring that a company keeps enough goods on hand to fulfill
expected demand while minimizing holding costs. Finally, the most serious hazard to every
organization, large or little, is poor inventory management. Overstocking, understocking, and out-
of-stock are all examples of this. It is critical to choose the best inventory control management
system for organizing and controlling goods. As a result, you may save a lot of money and
efficiently mobilize income.

Lastly, the methods of inventory are defined as a framework employed in firms in

controlling their interest in inventory. It includes the recording and observing of stock level,
estimating future requests, and settling on when and how to arrange. On the other hand, inventory
management is a method that companies use to organize, store, and replace inventory, to keep an
adequate supply of goods at the same time minimizing cost. Effective inventory management is
essential in the operation of any business. Thus, keeping stock is used as an important strategy by
companies to meet customers’ needs without taking the risk of frequent shortages while
maintaining a high service level. Inventories make a high cost, both in the sense of tied-up capital
and also operating and administrating the inventory itself. It is argued that the time from ordering
to delivery of replenishing the inventory, referred to as the lead time, is often long and the demand
from customers is rarely completely known. Therefore, managers should consider how to achieve
the balance between good customer service and reasonable cost, which is the purpose of inventory
management, involving the time and volume of replenishment.

III. Conclusion
There are several potential remedies to the present issues with the firm's inventory
management initiatives. The occurrence of these issues indicates that inventory control procedures
must be used more efficiently.
In conclusion, inventory control procedures are the integrated operation of an organization
that deals with material supply and related operations to achieve maximum coordination and
minimize material expense. A good employed inventory control system makes the company’s
effective and efficient operations especially handling inventories in the warehouse. A good number
of stocks are achieved through using formulas and or with the aid of technologies that plays an
important role in managing well the inventories. Using an online platform can also reduce the
inventory of the organization that serves as a productive way of selling since the place is in a
crucial situation where actions are only limited. Creating a connection to Vardells and ShipBob
Company can help to attain the goals and objectives of the entity and achieve an efficient way of
handling inventories in operations. They designed to improve a good supply chain and offer a great
platform to bloom in the market world while being open to the opportunity of the present
technologies.

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