Establishing Inventory Maturity in a Make-To-Order Manufacturing Environment

Abstract

Accelevation, LLC experienced rapid growth in their field of data center containment manufacturing. While sales and manufacturing grew quickly, the processes to support these did not mature at the same rate. The researcher reviewed the existing operating processes related to inventory management to understand the initial state of operations. Following the review of operations, the researcher diagnosed three major focus areas for improvement to mature Accelevation's operations. These areas of focus were analytical inventory management policies, comprehensive material demand forecasting, and the achievement of sustainably high inventory accuracy. Actions were taken in each of these areas, resulting in levels of success and improvement. The results in inventory policy and demand forecasting should prepare Accelevation for future growth with more robust processes. While the actions of the researcher yielded modest improvements in inventory accuracy, Accelevation must make major strides in operational execution to alleviate these problems and fully mature their inventory management processes.