Hands On Inventory Management

Better inventory management translates directly into better cash flow for businesses. However, in order to successfully manage inventory, businesses must strike a balance between customer demand and the amount of inventory they keep. Hands-On Inventory Management demonstrates principles key to developing an inventory management process, which will meet customer needs while keeping inventory costs at a level reasonable enough to produce a profit. The text explains basic inventory principles, calculations, and techniques using real-world examples. Different operational situations require different inventory planning and replenishment approaches; hence, this book emphasizes the prerequisites needed for success in a number of different industries. These prerequisites include top management support, a clear definition of responsibilities and alignment of goals throughout the company, as well as uncomplicated item identification. The author stresses the importance of accurate recordkeeping and delineates the most common causes of inaccurate records. He provides solutions to mitigate these causes and demonstrates how businesses can develop and administer a cycle counting program that will lead to a more well-managed physical inventory. Using a building-block approach, Hands-On Inventory Management gives a clear view of what steps must be taken to strike a profitable balance between customer demand and inventory.

Inventory is expensive and difficult to manage, and yet is an essential requirement for providing great service to customers. Inventory Management provides the tools to retain enough inventory to assure high levels of customer service, while avoiding excessive inventory levels that can absorb cash and generate losses. Topics covered include inventory policies, materials planning, purchasing and the supply chain, receiving, storage, shipping, production activities, record accuracy, warehousing efficiencies, measurements, and much more. This book covers a mix of classic and advanced management techniques to help the user maintain firm control over the mix and amount of inventory kept on hand.

Inventory Analytics provides a comprehensive and accessible introduction to the theory and practice of inventory control – a significant research area central to supply chain planning. The book outlines the foundations of inventory systems and surveys prescriptive analytics models for deterministic inventory control. It further discusses predictive analytics techniques for demand forecasting in inventory control and also examines prescriptive analytics models for stochastic inventory control. Inventory Analytics is the first book of its kind to adopt a practicable, Python-driven approach to illustrating theories and concepts via computational examples, with each model covered in the book accompanied by its Python code. Originating as a collection of self-contained lectures, Inventory Analytics will be an indispensable resource for practitioners, researchers, teachers, and students alike.

A hands-on guide enriched with examples to master deep reinforcement learning algorithms with Python Key Features Your entry point into the world of artificial intelligence using the power of Python An example-rich guide to master various RL and DRL algorithms Explore various state-of-the-art architectures along with math Book Description Reinforcement Learning (RL) is the trending and most promising branch of artificial intelligence. Hands-On Reinforcement learning with Python will help you master not only the basic reinforcement learning algorithms but also the advanced deep reinforcement learning algorithms. The book starts with an introduction to Reinforcement Learning followed by OpenAI Gym, and TensorFlow. You will then explore various RL algorithms and concepts, such as Markov Decision Process, Monte Carlo methods, and dynamic programming, including value and policy iteration. This example-rich guide will introduce you to deep reinforcement learning algorithms, such as Dueling DQN, DRQN, A3C, PPO, and TRPO. You will also learn about imagination-augmented agents, learning from human preference, DQfD, HER, and many more of the recent advancements in reinforcement learning. By the end of the book, you will have all the knowledge and experience needed to implement reinforcement learning and deep reinforcement learning in your projects, and you will be all set to enter the world of artificial intelligence. What you will learn Understand the basics of reinforcement learning methods, algorithms, and elements Train an agent to walk using OpenAI Gym and Tensorflow Understand the Markov Decision Process, Bellman’s optimality, and TD learning Solve multi-armed-bandit problems using various algorithms Master deep learning algorithms, such as RNN, LSTM, and CNN with applications Build intelligent agents using the DRQN algorithm to play the Doom game Teach agents to play the Lunar Lander game using DDPG Train an agent to win a car racing game using dueling DQN Who this book is for If you’re a machine learning developer or deep learning enthusiast interested in artificial intelligence and want to learn about reinforcement learning from scratch, this book is for you. Some knowledge of linear algebra, calculus, and the Python programming language will help you understand the concepts covered in this book.

Looking beyond the complexity and theory of inventory management, authors Geoff Relph and Catherine Milner examine managing inventory and achieving targets. Whilst the first edition mainly focused on planning, this new edition of The Inventory Toolkit includes three new chapters that go beyond planning to implementation. Amongst other topics, the new chapters cover holding and moving inventory, working with suppliers and using stack and flow to identify pinch points and facilitate lean and agile operations. This comprehensive second edition of The Inventory Toolkit includes case studies from diverse industries such as retail and aerospace, and worked examples and regular exercises which illustrate how the inventory tools can be used in an operational setting. It is an invaluable reference guide for students and practitioners focusing on inventory management and operations management in manufacturing and retail, as well as operational staff involved in the implementation of the MRP and inventory management modules of ERP systems.

Get the tools you need to manage, control and balance inventory systems with a revolutionary new methodology.