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Inventory Management

Rethink your inventory strategy in an era of advanced planning

Inventory is not free. Chances are, you are holding more inventory than needed, possibly diminishing your earnings potential through carrying cost expense. The days of inventory being considered an asset with expected rate recovery are long gone. Managers cross industries are aware that inventory needs to be effectively managed and budgeted. But with all the advanced planning systems in place, why is it even still a topic? Too often, companies look at inventory management as a “black box”, hoping that their investment in planning systems will address all of these foundational ingredients.

A company can decrease its current inventory levels through a standard approach that often yields swift results but may not be sustainable in the long run. One effective strategy is implementing aggressive sales promotions or clearance events to expedite the movement of products off the shelves. Additionally, optimizing supply chain management to reduce lead times and ordering inventory just in time can help cut down on excess stock. While these tactics can swiftly reduce inventory, they may not address the underlying issues causing excess stock, potentially leading to fluctuations in inventory levels once the promotional period ends or supply chain disruptions occur.

Long-term inventory management solutions should still be explored to maintain a healthier and more sustainable balance in the future. Drawing from our extensive project expertise in various sectors, we implement predictive analytics models that help businesses forecast their demand with higher accuracy. Furthermore, optimization algorithms continually optimize reorder points, safety stock levels, and replenishment frequencies, ensuring that the supply chain adapts dynamically to changing circumstances.

How Deloitte can help

Deloitte’s Inventory Management practice offers premier experience and technological innovation capabilities that guide senior executives in uncovering inefficiencies and high capital tied in their inventory. The combination of operational, industrial, and technological expertise, along with advanced analytics capabilities, enables businesses to develop more efficient, streamlined, and responsive inventory management operations. We assist in refining operations, product storage, and material flow throughout the entirety of the value chain, promoting superior inventory synergy and value.

Case studies by sector

Inventory Management Process and Accountability Review


Leading Global Automotive OEM

As part of efforts to manage the group’s working capital more efficiently, Deloitte was engaged to assist the client in gaining an understanding of how its inventory was being managed, and to quantify the amount of excess inventory currently held within the business by each business unit. Deloitte adopted a five-step approach: scoping of the divisional background and engagement plan, definition of “as-is” inventory management process, identification of process improvement opportunities, quantification of excess inventory and delivery of final report to the project sponsors and leaders.

Savings: 67M € of excess inventory was identified and an additional 6M € was also identified as potential ongoing costs incurred per annum as a result of holding this excess

Optimization of Maintenance and Spare Parts Transformation


Leading Global Construction Machinery OEM

Client was seeking to gain cost efficiencies by optimizing maintenance and spare parts management. Additionally, facility-level decision-rights further hindered the pooling of spend/parts management across facilities. Deloitte was engaged to analyze historic spend and inventory data for a set of pilot facilities. Inventory analysis revealed several levers to drive savings, including increased Vendor Owned Inventory (VOI), accelerated burn-off/planning optimization, and disposal on non-moving inventory. Maintenance analysis provided insight into categorical spend at the facility-level and revealed opportunities to aggregate spend to key suppliers.

Savings: 35M € in immediate opportunities on an addressable scope of approximately 500M €

Preference Item Strategy


Leading Life Sciences Company

The client was looking to develop a demand driven supply chain for medical devices, primarily focused on distribution for expensive Physician Preferred Items (PPIs). The team conducted hospital site visits, surveyed manufacturers and reviewed distribution operations to identify the inefficiencies in the current supply chain for supplies as well as expensive devices. The team developed a value proposition and business case for a RFID-technology based supply chain that could eliminate waste in healthcare and generate benefits for provider customers, medical device manufacturers while helping the client to reduce inventory (14 days) and operating cost.

Savings: 39M € in inventory and 7M - 14M € in annual cost

Demand Forecasting and Inventory Optimization


Consumer Goods Manufacturer

Client’s process of Inventory Management, including inventory orders, was cumbersome and manual, limiting the demand planning team in terms of granularity and frequency at which it can be done. The manual nature of the excel based demand forecasting model meant that weeks were spent generating forecasts, adjusting future forecasts and evaluating performance retrospectively every month or quarter. Thus, demand forecasting was optimized by using historical data to train the forecasting model. Deloitte also aided the client with inventory optimization. Our experts developed a non-linear optimization model on top of the forecast to determine safety stock, minimum inventory and maximum inventory points, while maximizing profit.

Savings: approximately 5M € annually

Inventory Optimisation Programme


Construction Products Manufacturer

Deloitte worked with selected Business Units of the client in order to understand current inventory management processes and capability. The intended outcome was to recommend a range of inventory management process improvements to reduce the amount of working capital used by these BUs. Based on site assessments, potential inventory optimizations initiatives were identified, including capability development, supply chain and sales and operations planning (S&OP) process improvements. Relevant inventory and shipments data was collected from all BUs and used to support the site assessment findings, via the creation of an inventory dashboard, and through a process of statistical target stock modelling.

Savings: identified potential inventory reduction of 33M €

Inventory Insights

Our Assets

Explore Inventory Insights, our innovative solution designed to enhance your understanding and ongoing supervision of inventory metrics across various dimensions.