Effect of Inventory Management on Organizational Productivity ( a Case Study of Unilever Nig Plc)
CHAPTER ONE
OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY
The objectives of the study are;
- To ascertain what quantity of inventory to buy and stock in unilever Nig. Plc
- To ascertain what procedure to follow in purchasing in Unilever Nig. Plc
To ascertain how to locate required goods in the store
CHAPTER TWO
REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE
CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK
According to Miller (2010), inventory management involves all activities put in place to ensure that customer has the needed product or service. It coordinates the purchasing, manufacturing and distribution functions to meet the marketing needs and organizational needs of availing the product to the customers. Inventory management is primarily involved with specifying the size and placement of stocked goods. Inventory management is required at different locations within a facility or within multiple locations of a supply network to protect the regular and planned course of production against the random disturbance of running out of materials. The scope of inventory management also involves managing the replenishment lead time, replenishment of goods, returns and defective goods and demand forecasting, carrying costs of inventory, asset management, physical inventory, available physical space, demand forecasting, inventory valuation, inventory visibility, future inventory price forecasting and quality management. With a balanced of these requirements, it is possible to reach an optimal inventory level, which is an on-going process as the business needs a shift and react to the wider environment (Ogbo et al, 2014). Inventory control means availability of materials whenever and wherever required by stocking adequate number and kind of stocks. The sum total of those related activities essential for the procurement, storage, sales, disposal or use of material can be referred to as inventory management. Inventory managers have to stock-up when required and utilize available storage space resourcefully so that available storage space is not exceeded. Maintaining accountability of inventory assets is their responsibility. They have to meet the set budget and decide upon what to order, how to order and when to order so that stock is available on time and at the optimum cost (Benedict and Margeridis,1999). Hence, inventory management involves planning to organize and controlling the flow of materials from their initial purchase unit through internal operations to the service point through distribution (Smaros, et al., 2003).
CHAPTER THREE
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
Research design
The researcher used descriptive research survey design in building up this project work the choice of this research design was considered appropriate because of its advantages of identifying attributes of a large population from a group of individuals. The design was suitable for the study as the study sought to effect of inventory management on organizational productivity.
CHAPTER FOUR
PRESENTATION ANALYSIS INTERPRETATION OF DATA
Introduction
Efforts will be made at this stage to present, analyze and interpret the data collected during the field survey. This presentation will be based on the responses from the completed questionnaires. The result of this exercise will be summarized in tabular forms for easy references and analysis. It will also show answers to questions relating to the research questions for this research study. The researcher employed simple percentage in the analysis.
CHAPTER FIVE
SUMMARY, CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION
Introduction
It is important to ascertain that the objective of this study was on effect of inventory management on organizational productivity. In the preceding chapter, the relevant data collected for this study were presented, critically analyzed and appropriate interpretation given. In this chapter, certain recommendations made which in the opinion of the researcher will be of benefits in addressing the challenges of inventory management on organizational productivity
Summary
This study was on effect of inventory management on organizational productivity. Three objectives were raised which included: To ascertain what quantity of inventory to buy and stock in unilever Nig. Plc, to ascertain what procedure to follow in purchasing in Unilever Nig. Plc, to ascertain how to locate required goods in the store. In line with these objectives, two research hypotheses were formulated and two null hypotheses were posited. The total population for the study is 200 staff of Unilever Nig. Plc, Lagos state. The researcher used questionnaires as the instrument for the data collection. Descriptive Survey research design was adopted for this study. A total of 133 respondents made human resource managers, production managers, senior staff and junior staff were used for the study. The data collected were presented in tables and analyzed using simple percentages and frequencies
Conclusion
The study concluded that inventory management is essential in the operation of any business. Inventory as an asset on the balance sheet of companies has taken on increased importance because many companies are applying the strategy of reducing their investment in fixed assets, like plants, warehouses, equipment and machinery, and so on, which even highlights the significance of reducing inventory
Recommendation
The firms should also strengthen the supplier relation to the level of partnerships and also not only concentrate on one supplier so that the failure of one supplier will not mar the production system
Organizations should train their personnel in the area of inventory control management that will empower them to be in charge for smooth running of the inventory management activities or program
The study recommended that top management should emphasis on the proper inventory management techniques and measuring of efficiency deviations to identify weaknesses in the process of managing inventories
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