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Inventory management is a subject that is largely spread in the literature. Inventory holding undeniably allows a company to meet one of its most important strategic objectives that will ensure its sustainability: customer satisfaction. By reducing replenishment lead-times and ensuring high service level, despite a limited production capacity, a company can get a significant competitive advantage thanks to finished goods inventory. Actually, the purpose of maintaining finished good inventory is to fill the gap between supply and demand processes so that the various partners of the supply chain are well-coordinated.
However, maintaining a certain level of inventory is not costless, which is why inventory management is a high-stake dimension for an entity. An efficient trade-off has to be found between maximization of customer satisfaction and minimization of inventory-related costs. 
In the frame of this master thesis, the project consists of an in-depth analysis regarding two customers of United Caps that are causing inventory-related problems in the company. The first client concerned by this analysis is FrieslandCampina – Aalter. The issue induced by this client is related to unreliable sales forecasts. The second client is Natra – Malle which requires a too high level of safety stock for United Caps. The main goal of this master thesis is to make specific recommendations to United Caps regarding the way to handle efficiently these issues.
The fact that this master thesis covers two different subjects related to the same global issue, inventory management, allows studying various important topics linked with the inventory management theory, such as the inventory replenishment policy applied in the company, the bullwhip effect and the aggregated demand for example.

Inventory management --- Finished products --- Sales forecast --- Safety stock --- Consumer satisfaction --- Inventory holding costs --- Shortage risk --- Limited production capacity --- Replenishment lead time --- Service level --- Bullwhip effect --- Sciences économiques & de gestion > Production, distribution & gestion de la chaîne logistique