Inventory Planning - How To Optimize Inventory Policies

Apply, Simulate, and Optimize Inventory Policies (using Excel)

What you'll learn

How to simulate, optimize, select, and apply inventory policies

How to optimize inventory policies to minimize costs

How to optimize policies to find the perfect trade-off between inventory and service levels

How to assess service level

How forecasts interact with inventory policies

How to select an inventory policy based on historical demand and forecast patterns

How to simulate inventory policies

Requirements

Excel Intermediate

Forecasting KPIs (see my other course for example)

Description

What will you learn?In this course, using Excel templates, you will learn how to Apply inventory policiesSimulate them using historical demand and forecast dataOptimize policies based on cost or service/inventory trade-offs These templates can then be easily tweaked for your own products and data.How is this course different?I have been teaching inventory optimization to master students at the university (in Brussels, Belgium, and then Paris, France) and to professionals since 2015. Most inventory optimization courses focus on solving equations, such as the Economic Order Quantity (EOQ), safety stocks, and newsvendor models. Not this one.Over the years, I have drastically changed how I taught inventory optimization and utilize inventory policies because my experience delivering models to my clients taught me that,Being able to solve a formula doesn't mean that you know how to apply it in practice.Even if you can properly apply a formula, the underlying theory doesn't apply in practice.Other models - that don't rely on specific theoretical models - usually deliver more value.So I changed The content of my course: from theory-driven to simulation-driven, How I taught it: from a focus on equations to a focus on 'how do you apply this in practice using real-life data'My objective is that by the end of this course, you will be able to, Simulate different policies using your own dataOptimize themSelect the one that best fits your objective (cost, service level) based on your own data (historical demand and forecast)What deliverables do you get?Excel templates that you can use with your own dataCorrected templates for all exercises and simulationsAll the slidesWhat's not covered in this course?EOQ optimization and modelNewsvendor modelPre-requisitesExcel intermediate level - The course includes a brief introduction to the Excel SolverHow to compute the RMSE (see my other course) - The course includes a brief reminder on how to compute RMSE. How much content is in this course?1h50 of videos (including theory, discussions, and corrections)Depending on your Excel proficiency, approximately 4 to 8 hours of personal work (including mostly simulations in Excel and a bit of theory)

Overview

Section 1: Introduction

Lecture 1 Introduction

Lecture 2 [Optional] About the Author

Section 2: Balancing Inventory Levels

Lecture 3 Balancing Inventory Levels - Part 1

Lecture 4 Balancing Inventory Levels - Part 2

Section 3: Service Levels

Lecture 5 Service Levels - Definitions

Section 4: Supply Chain Costs

Lecture 6 Supply Chain Planning Costs - Theory 1

Lecture 7 Supply Chain Planning Costs - Theory 2

Section 5: Inventory Policies - Theory

Lecture 8 Inventory Levels: On-Hand, In-Transit, Backorders, Net

Lecture 9 Inventory Policies Classification

Lecture 10 Inventory Policies - Periodic Review, and Up-to-Level

Lecture 11 Up-to-Level Examples

Lecture 12 Inventory Policies - Periodic Review, Reorder Point, and Fixed Quantity

Lecture 13 Inventory Policies - Continuous Review, Reorder Point, and Fixed Quantity

Section 6: Part 1 - Using Inventory Policies

Lecture 14 Forecast Coverage and Risk Horizon

Section 7: Part 2 - Simulating Policies

Lecture 15 Comparing our policies

Section 8: Safety Stock Formula

Lecture 16 Theory Behind the Safety Stock Formula

Section 9: Optimizing Policies

Lecture 17 Policy Optimization: Cost vs. Service Driven

Lecture 18 [Optional] How to Use Excel Solver

Section 10: Conclusion and Next Steps

Lecture 19 Conclusion and Next Steps

Demand planners,Supply planners,Purchasers,Supply chain data scientists,Supply chain analysts