Enhancing inventory management for primary and secondary warehouse

Valtra Oy Ab has faced operational challenges with controlling its inventory in the primary warehouse in Suolahti and in the secondary warehouse run by a third-party logistics operator in Säynätsalo. The need for storing items is growing steadily due to the recently released tractor models. Because of the new models, more items have been added to the stock than older items have reached their obsolete-status. The main objective of the thesis was to examine what kinds of actions would be required to reduce the inventories in Suolahti and in the third-party logistics operator’s warehouse in Säynätsalo. The study was of great interest to the company because proper analyses of inventory management had not been conducted in the recent years. The empirical section was based on quantitative methods and logical deduction. Finally, the study included calculating the fixed storing area in the third-party logistics operator’s warehouse in order to alleviate the transformation project of the upcoming warehouse management system (WMS). The theoretical background of the study was based on inventory management, warehousing and introducing various tools for analysis. The acquired data from the warehouse management system was compiled for various analyses that focused on finding possible solutions to the research problem by reflecting the data against the theoretical background. As a result, new solutions were found to enhance inventory management. Especially, the study found numerous items that already had a full write-off value in the bookkeeping but were still stored in the inventory. The study presented recommendations on either discarding the items or transferring them from Suolahti to Säynätsalo. Cost calculations of recommended actions were included in the results, but the execution was excluded from the content