An Effective Implementation of Operational Inventory Management

Abstract

This Record of Study describes the Doctor of Engineering (DE) internship experience at the Supply Chain Systems Laboratory (SCSL) at Texas A&M University. The objective of the internship was to design and develop automation tools to streamline lab operations related to inventory management projects and during that process adapt and/or extend theoretical inventory models according to real-world business complexity and data integrity problems. A holistic approach to automation was taken to satisfy both short-term and long-term needs subject to organizational constraints. A comprehensive software productivity tool was designed and developed that considerably reduced time and effort spent on non-value adding activities. This resulted in standardizing and streamlining data analysis related activities. Real-world factors that significantly influence the data analysis process were identified and incorporated into model specifications. This helped develop an operational inventory management model that accounted for business complexity and data integrity issues commonly encountered during implementation. Many organizational issues including new business strategies, human resources, administration, and project management were also addressed during the course of the internship.