Inventory Management & Working Capital in Operations is a structured track of 13 lessons that build a complete, interview-ready understanding of the topic. Work through them in order, then use the quiz and flashcards in each lesson to revise.
What this course covers
- Why Inventory Exists and What It Really Costs - The reasons inventory is held, and the full carrying cost including risk.
- Inventory Types and Where Each Accumulates - Cycle, safety, transit and dead stock, and what each one signals.
- Economic Order Quantity and Order Sizing - The order quantity trade-off derived and applied, with its assumptions stated.
- Safety Stock, Service Levels & Variability - Sizing safety stock from demand and lead time variability, with the formula.
- Reorder Points and Replenishment Policies - Continuous and periodic review policies, and choosing between them.
- Classification Analysis and Differentiated Policies - Segmenting items by value and variability, then setting policy per segment.
- Just-in-Time and Vendor-Managed Inventory - What just-in-time demands of suppliers, and when it becomes fragile.
- Multi-Echelon Inventory and Postponement - Positioning inventory across a network, and delaying differentiation.
- Inventory Turns, Days of Supply & the Cash-to-Cash Cycle - The working capital metrics, computed and linked to the balance sheet.
- Slow-Moving, Obsolete Stock & Write-Off Decisions - Identifying dead stock early, and making the write-off decision rationally.
- Spare Parts and Service Inventory Management - Intermittent demand items, where standard formulas mislead.
- Using AI for Inventory Optimisation and Replenishment - Where learned policies beat rule-based replenishment, and the guardrails.
- Applied: Setting Inventory Policy for a Multi-Product Business - A full policy set built by segment, with the service and cash impact quantified.