Inventory control: Its principles and application

Abstract

Availability of good quality stock, in right quantity, at right place and time and at right cost is the essence of inventory control, which in turn is mandatory for smooth functioning and service delivery of any health care facility. Various techniques are available for inventory control, based on cost, criticality and other factors for e.g., ABC analysis, VED analysis, ABC-VED matrix, FSN analysis, SDE analysis etc. Each technique has its own strength and weakness in its applicability. Economic considerations are also imperative for logistic management of any health facility, as any cost savings could be spent more gainfully in some other way and thus more lives could be saved, reduced morbidities and overall positive impact. Future healthcare managers will have to utilize scientific methods of inventory management and the role of an efficient hospital logistics system cannot be ignored anymore. Inventory control is an important component of hospital management. It provides significant improvement in patient care, customer relationships and optimal use of resources. The objective of this paper is to present an up-to-date review of inventory control and critically appraise its various techniques, various costs associated with it and methods of indenting stock. This review will benefit post-graduate students and public health workers in understanding the concepts and principle of inventory control and applying the same in their practice.

Classification of Materials and Medicines in Hospital Inventory Management: A Multi-Criteria Analysis

“…Furthermore, after obtaining the maximum and minimum values v(aj) of the problems, another rule is applied, in order to decide whether or not each alternative aj will be assigned to a category. It is possible to see in (3), how this rule is applied [24].…”

“…Inventory management is necessary mainly due to the differences in rhythm between supply and demand [2]. In the health area, inventory can be composed of a variety of materials and medicines with different in ows and out ows, which requires professionals aimed at improving the management of resources, processes and activities in order to achieve optimum levels of management [3]. Pharmaceutical products require particular attention as they contribute up to 40% of the healthcare budget.…”

Estimación de la Cantidad de Pedido y el Punto de Reorden para un Artículo con Demanda y Tiempo de Entrega Aleatorios

“…Los factores que conducen a la escasez de chips, incluyen el impacto de las calamidades en las fábricas de obleas y las cancelaciones de pedidos de memorias y unidades de control electrónico (ECU), enfatizando la necesidad de resiliencia, diversidad de abastecimiento y producción ajustada. Singh et al, (2022) resaltan la importancia de presentar una revisión actualizada del control de inventario y evaluar críticamente sus diversas técnicas, los diversos costos asociados y los métodos de identificación de existencias en centros de salud. Esta revisión, beneficia a los Original estudiantes de posgrado y trabajadores de la salud pública, en la comprensión de los conceptos y principios del control de inventario y la aplicación de los mismos en su práctica, lo que lleva a una correcta administración de los recursos, lo que repercute en una mejor atención de los pacientes.…”

Control de inventario mediante método ABC para una empresa de transporte: Análisis sistémico por familias

“…El método ABC permite asociar cada ítem a una categoría respecto a la importancia que tiene en el inventario [18] , siendo la categoría A la de mayor importancia, B importancia media y C la de menor importancia [19] . Para la empresa caso de estudio, se decidió categorizar a los ítems de acuerdo con el valor que representan en el inventario, tal como se muestra en la Figura 3.…”