Lagerstyrning : med avseende på produktivitet och leveranssäkerhet

Inventory management is about using a company's resources in a way that keeps its costs down as much as possible while still manage to meet the demand. This study focuses on two main areas of inventory control; productivity and delivery reliability. These two concepts are highly relevant for companies in the building materials retail when fierce competition forces them to small margins and concepts have been shown to have a high impact on a company's costs.The aim of the study is to examine how a company in the building materials retailers can make its inventory management process more effective. In order to generate a deeper understanding of this has three research questions been specified; Which inventory control models focus on increasing productivity and delivery performance for a company in the building materials retail business? What problems have a company in the building materials retail business in terms of inventory control? Which methods and approaches should companies in the building materials retail business develop to ensure the productivity and security of supply?The study is characterized by a deductive approach, which means that the study has been based out of the existing theory on the subject, and then studied a company in the building materials retail business. The empirical data were collected continuously in from a position as an employee at the company Byggmax AB. Data collection methods were document review, meetings, interviews and observations in the company's central warehouse. The study highlights several inventory management models that focus on productivity and delivery performance. By studying a company in the building materials retailers revealed that inadequate procedures, system constraints, and unclear communication were common problems. By developing different methods and practices that deal with these problems, a company can ensure productivity and delivery performance of their business. Finally, several recommendations are presented for the studied company about how they can improve their productivity and delivery reliability. Examples of such improvements are to create clearer procedures for the transfer and to focus resources so that mistake is detected and corrected as early as possible in the inventory management process.Validerat; 20130523 (global_studentproject_submitter