Inventory

Inventory is one of the most important operations management responsibilities of any company because it affects the delivery of goods to customers, which controls the amount of product a developed business makes. Nike Inc., a company that focuses on the distribution and sales of finished goods, operates in the areas of footwear, apparel and sporting equipment. Operating in various countries as well as states, the Nike Company has many retail locations which house their store’s stock supply of merchandise on their grounds, keeping replenishment of materials to meet demands. The various supply of inventory includes merchandise in different sizes and colors to satisfy customer preference during regular shopping occasions as well as times where there are holiday rushes for the “last minute” and/or “perfect gift”. The various points of inventory structure, item cost, ordering cost, holding cost as well as stock out costs are determined by corporate offices after the reviewing of the store’s ability to meet annual profit goals as well as the store’s regional geographic. These headquarters also view records which show statistics of items which are more popular in sales, this helps to determine the amount of a certain products to order to create a shipment schedule for each store.

In this retail market the demand is independent because it is influenced by market conditions outside of the control of operations. In this operation various materials of shoes, clothing, and sporting equipment is replenished before it runs out. This helps the company from a customer service aspect as well because they are able to deliver a product in a timely fashion to each shopper.