Inventory Analytics

Rutgers the State University of New Jersey

Inventory Analytics

This course is part of Supply Chain Analytics Specialization

Instructor: Yao Zhao

What you'll learn

For which industries is inventory important?
How may inventory drive a company’s financial performance?
How do I know that I have an inventory problem?
How to classify and manage inventory?

Skills you'll gain

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Assessments

4 assignments

Taught in English

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This course is part of the Supply Chain Analytics Specialization

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There are 4 modules in this course

Inventory analytics is the corner stone of supply chain analytics. A company in trade industries may have 30-50% of their assets tied up in inventory. An effective inventory management can improve revenue by increasing product variety and availability, and reduce cost and speed up cash cycle by reducing excessive inventory and waste.

Through real-life examples (e.g., Amazon vs. Macy’s), you will learn hands-on tools and skills to discover and solve inventory problems by data analytics. Upon completion, you can answer the following questions: 1. For which industries is inventory important? 2. How may inventory drive a company’s financial performance? 3. How do I know that I have an inventory problem? 4. How to classify inventory and manage it accordingly? Note: This course is for beginners and thus focuses more on discovering inventory problems than solving them. It is my belief that discovering a problem and knowing which directions to go is at least equally important as solving the problem. We are planning to launch new courses or expand this course to cover more sophisticated inventory solutions in the future - thank you.

Welcome to inventory analytics - the corner-stone of supply chain analytics. In this week, you will first learn the story of Amazon and Macy’s, then get an overview of the course, including the value, trend, breakdown, and economic indication of inventory in the US and around the world.

What's included

3 videos2 readings1 assignment1 discussion prompt

The importance of inventory is industry and country dependent. In this week, you will be able to identify the importance of inventory in various industries (and countries) by two metrics: Inventory as a percentage of the total assets and inventory turns (or days).

What's included

8 videos1 reading1 assignment2 peer reviews

8 videosTotal 32 minutes

Assessing industries by inventory over total asset4 minutesPreview module
Assessing industries by inventory turns and days6 minutes
Introduction to GCPS1 minute
Screenshots: Create a New Project2 minutes
Screenshots: Business GEOINFO5 minutes
Screenshots: Industry Analysis and Enterprise Diagnosis5 minutes
Screenshots: Navigator and Supply Chain Mapping4 minutes
Screenshots: Preview, Search and Cite2 minutes

1 readingTotal 2 minutes

Software Tools2 minutes

1 assignmentTotal 20 minutes

Inventory turns and days20 minutes

2 peer reviewsTotal 180 minutes

Assessing industries by inventory over total assets90 minutes
Assessing industries by inventory turns and days90 minutes

How may inventory drive a company’s financial performance? How do I know that I have an inventory problem? Why do companies hold inventory and why not? You will be able to answer these questions in this week.

What's included

4 videos1 assignment2 peer reviews

4 videosTotal 19 minutes

Why (or why not) hold inventory?4 minutesPreview module
How may inventory drive a company’s financial performance?1 minute
The financial and stock market impact of operations / SCM7 minutes
How Do I Know If I Have An Inventory Problem?4 minutes

1 assignmentTotal 30 minutes

Why (or why not) hold inventory?30 minutes

2 peer reviewsTotal 180 minutes

How may inventory drive the financial performance?90 minutes
How do I know if I have an inventory problem?90 minutes

Some products are more important than others for inventory management; the inventory of different products may be managed in different ways. In this week, you will learn how to classify inventory and manage it accordingly.