30 Examples of Inventory Management

John Spacey, updated on May 22, 2023

Inventory management is the process of planning, controlling and accounting for the inventory of a firm. Inventory includes materials and components used in manufacturing, work in process goods, finished goods, goods in transit and stock to be sold. It can also include current assets used in maintenance, repair and operations. The following are common examples of inventory management.

Inventory planning	Inventory forecasting
Coordination with sales, marketing and operations	Analyzing sales data and historical trends to predict demand
Balancing inventory levels to reduce stockouts and avoid excess inventory	Optimizing inventory turnover
Measuring and reporting inventory turnover	Monitoring current inventory levels
Improving procurement turnaround times	Improving stocking turnaround times
Order management	Managing supplier performance
Managing supplier and logistics issues	Inventory audits and reconciliation
Tracking lead times for reordering	Procurement processes to find new suppliers
Reordering automation	Inventory tracking automation
Inventory analysis	Negotiating with suppliers
Monitoring supplier cost and performance	Improving inventory holding costs
Managing customer returns	Expiry date tracking and monitoring
Implementing and tracking first-in-first-out use of stock	Inventory disposal and liquidation
Compliance with regulations and standards for inventory storage, safety and labeling	Monitoring and reporting shrinkage
Loss prevention measures	Inventory expediting – accelerated process for urgent inventory needs