Analysis and reduction of excess inventory at a heavy equipment manufacturing facility
Name
857790287-MIT.pdf
Description
Full printable version
Size
10.98 MB
Format
Adobe PDF
Checksum (MD5)
bbf36dd308b1b5ec7dc0b5ce5250ba0b
Author(s)
Romanov, Alexander, M.B.A. Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Advisor(s)
Deborah J. Nightingale and Charles H. Fine.
Date Issued
2013
Publisher
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Abstract
The research presented in this thesis explores two hypotheses focused on excess inventory at a heavy equipment manufacturing facility. The scope of the thesis includes inventory in the form of raw materials, purchased components, and work in process parts found at the facility and in the off-site storage warehouse. The first hypothesis proposes that excess inventory at the facility has several key root causes, and that their elimination drastically reduces the accumulation rate of excess inventory. The second hypothesis proposes that a basic material review process could be effective in identifying and reducing excess inventory at the facility in a six-month timeframe. The hypotheses were tested over a six-month period at a Caterpillar Global Mining facility. The first hypothesis was not confirmed. More than twenty root causes of excess inventory accumulation were identified and no evidence was discovered that would suggest that certain root causes are dominant. The second hypothesis was supported by the findings at the facility. The organization was able to formulate a basic material review process, apply the process to the facility's inventory, and reduce excess inventory by roughly 35% over a three-month time span.
Description
Thesis (M.B.A.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management; and, (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Aeronautics and Astronautics; in conjunction with the Leaders for Global Operations Program at MIT, 2013.
Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.
Includes bibliographical references (p. 72-73).
Subjects
Sloan School of Management.
Aeronautics and Astronautics.
Leaders for Global Operations Program.
MIT Department
Leaders for Global Operations Program at MIT
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics
Sloan School of Management
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