--- title: Inventory Management description: Inventory management is the process of ordering, storing, tracking, and controlling a company's stock. Learners will understand demand forecasting, stock valuation methods, reorder point calculations, and how to balance inventory levels to prevent stockouts while minimizing holding costs. category: business-entrepreneurship subcategory: operations-management difficulty: beginner, intermediate, advanced url: /subject/operations-management-inventory-management --- # Inventory Management Inventory management is the process of ordering, storing, tracking, and controlling a company's stock. Learners will understand demand forecasting, stock valuation methods, reorder point calculations, and how to balance inventory levels to prevent stockouts while minimizing holding costs. ## Available Resources 3 Books • 2 Courses • 3 Websites ## Websites ### 1. APICS Supply Chain Resources The individual-practitioner hub of ASCM, formerly APICS, the body that maintains the CPIM and CSCP certifications. Lists certification paths, exam content outlines, and member learning materials for anyone planning a formal supply chain credential. **Difficulty:** Beginner | **Price:** Free **Link:** https://www.apics.org/apics-for-individuals **Tags:** supply-chain, certification, cpim, inventory-management, ascm ### 2. InventoryOps Dave Piasecki's independent site collecting practitioner articles on cycle counting, inventory accuracy, safety stock, and warehouse operations, plus a glossary of trade terms. Useful for understanding how inventory control actually works on a warehouse floor. **Difficulty:** Beginner | **Price:** Free **Link:** https://www.inventoryops.com/ **Tags:** inventory-control, warehouse-operations, cycle-counting, safety-stock ### 3. supplychainbrain.com SupplyChainBrain is a leading news and information resource for supply chain professionals, covering logistics, procurement, technology, and strategy. It features daily news, in-depth analysis, case studies, and resources such as webinars and podcasts. **Difficulty:** Intermediate | **Language:** English | **Price:** Free **Link:** https://supplychainbrain.com **Tags:** websites, engineering-manufacturing, industrial-engineering ## Courses ### 1. Inventory Management This course is for business professionals, operations managers, supply chain analysts, and anyone looking to optimize inventory processes. Inventory is a strategic asset for organizations. Effective inventory management can minimize a company’s spending while dramatically increasing its profit. In this course, you will learn to leverage data science and Microsoft Excel to manage inventory in uncertain environments, set optimal inventory levels based on customer service requirements, and calculate inventory for products with short sales cycles. By the end of this course, you will be able to: - Apply data science techniques to manage inventory effectively. - Utilize Microsoft Excel for inventory analysis and forecasting. - Determine optimal inventory levels to meet customer service goals. - Calculate inventory for products with varying demand cycles. To be successful in this course, you should have a basic understanding of business operations and familiarity with spreadsheet software. **Difficulty:** Beginner | **Language:** English | **Duration:** 4 weeks of study, 2-3 hours/week | **Price:** Free **Link:** https://www.coursera.org/learn/inventory-management **Tags:** courses, business-entrepreneurship, operations-management ### 2. Advanced Inventory Management In this online course you will learn how to correctly store your products through a collaborative inventory management strategy which will allow you to have optimal processes at the time of delivery for your final clients. **Difficulty:** Intermediate | **Language:** English | **Price:** Free **Link:** https://www.edx.org/learn/business-administration/logyca-inventory-and-portfolio-management **Tags:** courses, business-entrepreneurship, operations-management ## Books ### 1. Inventory Management Explained **Author:** David J. Piasecki A practitioner's walk through the mathematics behind inventory systems: demand forecasting, lot sizing, safety stock calculation, and reorder point logic. Readers finish able to set and defend the stocking parameters an ERP or planning system asks for. **Difficulty:** Intermediate | **Language:** English | **Price:** Paid **Link:** https://www.amazon.com/dp/0972763112?tag=edmonddante07-20 **Tags:** books, business-entrepreneurship, e-commerce ### 2. Essentials of Inventory Management **Author:** Max Muller An introductory guide to warehouse inventory practice covering physical control, counting methods, valuation approaches such as FIFO and LIFO, and basic ordering formulas. Suited to someone taking on stockroom responsibility without a supply chain background. **Difficulty:** Intermediate | **Language:** English | **Price:** Paid **Link:** https://www.amazon.com/dp/0814416551?tag=edmonddante07-20 **Tags:** books, business-entrepreneurship, e-commerce ### 3. Inventory Control and Management **Author:** Donald Waters Wiley textbook covering inventory models from economic order quantity and reorder levels through dependent-demand systems like MRP. Working through it, you can calculate stock levels, evaluate ordering policies, and judge which approach fits a given supply chain. **Difficulty:** Intermediate | **Language:** English | **Price:** Paid **Link:** https://www.amazon.com/dp/0470858761?tag=edmonddante07-20 **Tags:** books, business-entrepreneurship, operations-management --- *This content is part of Dantes.io - Your Treasure Map to Knowledge* *Curated by humans at Dantes.io. Personal study use welcome; republishing this curation requires permission (team@dantes.io).* View this page online: https://dantes.io/subject/operations-management-inventory-management