In the currently dominating linear economy, there is a strong focus on the forward supply of products, where products and materials are being replaced and wasted at an increasing pace. In addition to this, there are products not even reaching customers, being scrapped as a result of them being excess in inventories. As the increasingly noted circular economy aims to control the flows of materials so that these are circulated and the value of them is kept as high as possible while minimizing waste, it offers a set of tools useful to increase the material efficiency of excess inventories. The purpose of this thesis is to investigate how improved inventory management can increase material efficiency from a circular economy perspective, to improve environmental and economic sustainability performance. A case study was completed at a global company in the ICT manufacturing sector where the current processes for handling excess inventory were studied along with the implications of product modularization. While exploring this topic, the thesis further aims to identify barriers and potentials to improving inventory management from the circular economy perspective. In enabling this, a qualitative study was performed, collecting empirical data through interviews with employees and researchers to use as the base for analysis and discussion. The findings present that although processes for managing products in excess inventory exist at the case company, there is great room for improvement regarding both a wider application of these along with the incentives and efficiency of them. The selection of products to be recirculated is today greatly dominated by economic factors, where typically only high-value products tend to be considered and the environmental aspect is somewhat lost in this consideration. Moreover, modularization is identified as an enabler for increased material efficiency in inventory management, reducing unique components and materials in inventories and thereby the risk of scrapping. However, these positive effects of modularization on the material efficiency are unfortunately not expected to be seen in the nearest time, but rather in the future. Furthermore, several barriers to improved inventory management are identified, also indicating the existing potentials for improvement and capabilities required for this. The most prominent barriers recognized are organizational, technological and economic barriers. The majority of them are internal barriers existing within the organization. / I den för närvarande dominerande linjära ekonomin finns ett starkt fokus på det framåtgående flödet av produkter, där produkter och material byts ut och slösas i en allt ökande takt. Utöver det här produktflödet finns dessutom produkter som aldrig når kund, utan som skrotas på grund av att de är i överskott eller har blivit föråldrade medan fortfarande i lager. Då den alltmer uppmärksammade cirkulära ekonomin syftar till att kontrollera flödena av material så att dessa cirkuleras och hålls vid ett så högt värde som möjligt samtidigt som avfall minimeras, erbjuder den en uppsättning användbara verktyg som kan användas för att öka materialeffektiviteten i överskottslager. Syftet med studien är att undersöka hur förbättrad lagerhantering kan öka materialeffektiviteten ur perspektivet av den cirkulära ekonomin, med syftet att förbättra miljömässig och ekonomisk hållbarhetsprestanda. En fallstudie utfördes vid ett globalt företag inom den tillverkande ICT-sektorn där de nuvarande processerna för hantering av överskottslager studerades tillsammans med implikationerna av att modularisera delar av produktportföljen. I undersökningen av detta syftar studien vidare till att identifiera barriärer och potential för förbättrad lagerhantering utifrån den cirkulära ekonomins principer. Detta utfördes genom en kvalitativ studie där empirisk data samlades in genom intervjuer med anställda samt forskare, vilken låg till grund för den analys och diskussion som genomförts. Resultaten visar att även om det i dagsläget finns processer för att hantera produkter i överskottslager hos fallföretaget, finns det stort utrymme för förbättring gällande effektiviteten av dessa. Urvalet av produkter för återcirkulering domineras idag till hög grad av ekonomiska faktorer, där oftast enbart produkter av högt ekonomiskt värde prioriteras för återcirkulering, och hållbarhetsaspekten förloras på vägen. Vidare identifieras modularisering som en möjliggörande faktor till förbättrad lagerhantering där färre unika komponenter och reducerade materialnivåer i lager minskar risken för skrotning. De positiva effekterna av modularisering på materialeffektiviteten inom lagerhantering förväntas däremot bli synbara på lång sikt snarare än kort sikt. Avslutningsvis identifieras flertalet barriärer till förbättrad materialeffektivitet inom lagerhantering, vilka indikerar de befintliga möjligheterna till förbättring. De mest framstående typerna av barriärer inkluderar organisatoriska, tekniska och ekonomiska barrirärer, där det kan konstateras att merparten är interna barriärer som kan hanteras inom organisationen.

The Marital Interaction Dimension Inventory (MIDI) is an assessment that evaluates marital relationships on seven dimensions; sexuality, self disclosure, emotional affiliation, conflict resolution, power outcome, commitment, and identity. The MIDI provides scores on and individual's actual and desired relationship.

La validité et la fidélité d'une traduction en langue française de l'Inventaire d'épuisement professionnel de Maslach et Jackson (1986) (MBI) est étudiée. Les trois premières études portent sur 260 éducatrices en garderie et 123 infirmières qui ont rempli des questionnaires dont le MBI. Les résultats appuient la consistance interne, la stabilité temporelle, la validité factorielle, la validité de convergence et la validité hypothético-déductive. De plus, 6,9% des éducatrices ont développé des symptômes sérieux d'épuisement professionnel sur un intervalle d'un an. La quatrième étude a été effectuée auprès de 219 éducatrices en garderie qui ont répondus au MBI et à une version abrégée du BDI et les ont retournés par la poste. L'analyse factorielle des items du MBI et du BDI a démontré que les items saturent sur des facteurs distincts, suggérant que le MBI évalue une symptomatologie différente de celle mesurée par le BDI. Les résultats appuient l'utilisation du MBI comme outil d'évaluation d'un état non clinique d'épuisement professionnel.

A topic of my graduation theses is "Inventory bookkeeping in a selected manufacturing firm in field of electrotechnics, comparison of bookkeeping with similar company of german provenance". An aim of this graduation theses is to analyse the system of inventory bookkeeping in the manufacturing firm and to compare it with inventory bookkeping in similar companies in the Czech Republic and Germany. The main attention in practical part is dedicated to the method and the procedure of inventory bookkeeping in a given company. I analyse the acquisition of inventory from the Czech Republic and from Germany, its entry in a stock, delivery ex stock, sale of inventory in the Czech Republic and in Germany and I refer to bookkeeping in a given accounting entity. The accounting entity keeps accounts of inventory according to the valid regulations, nevertheless I found some bookkeeping operations, which could be solved in a different way. The partial aim of my graduation theses is to point out to different method of inventory bookkeeping in the Czech Republic and in Germany and currently introduce the bookkeeping words of art in german language. By the comparison of inventory bookkeeping according to german and czech bookkeeping I found many agreements, but I made out some more or less substantial differences. The graduation theses confirms that the bookeeping in the Czech Republic is mounting to the bookkeeping in Germany. This arises from performed comparison of accounting procedure by inventory bookkeeping in the Czech Republic and in Germany. Considering the development of international bookkeeping harmonization we can say, that the czech and german bookkeeping will develop in the same way and they will mount to each other.

Submitted in fulfilment of the requirements of the degree of Masters of Technology in Cost and Management Accounting, Durban University of Technology, Durban, 2015. / The Stores Division reportedly found it very difficult to control inventories as well as executing roles and responsibilities allocated in the section. The aims of this study were to identify factors affecting the success of inventory control and to assess strategies used by the Stores Division of the eThekwini Municipality in Durban to control inventory stocks. In order to arrive at the deep structure underpinning inventory control, three theoretical frameworks were used, i.e., stock diffusion theory, application control theory and inventory control in theory and practice. This case study was census, descriptive, cross-sectional and predominantly quantitative in nature with only two open-ended questions. The 57 questionnaires were administered by members of staff at the Stores and Procurement Divisions of the eThekwini Municipality in Durban. Data were analysed using descriptive and inferential statistics and categorised according to themes. The IBM Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 21.0 was used to determine statistical results. The findings of the study revealed that employees lack proper training and education and that there is poor inventory control planning, lack of staff communication and lack of procurement time management when processing inventory orders. Respondents also indicated that there are no common strategies in place to control inventories. The study recommends that the Stores Division should consider the levels of staff qualifications, provide more staff training, and improve inventory control planning; communication; time management, and instigate innovative strategies in order to eradicate growing costs of inventory stocks. Moreover, the internal control processes need to be mapped according to the various roles identified.

Bakgrund och problemdiskussion: Lagerstyrning är olika aktiviteter som rör hur ett lager hanteras och styrs. Styrningen av ett lager har en stor påverkan på ett företags lönsamhet då det hanterar de aktiviteter som berör lager och därmed också det bundna kapitalet. Lagerstyrning är dock inget som görs i en handvändning, utan det är många delar som ska stämma överens. Lagerstyrningen blir än mer komplex när företag handlar med volatila råvaror. När det kommer till lagerstyrning av produkter med volatila inköpspriser är det viktigt att ta hänsyn till dessa förändringar, för att på så sätt kunna hitta den mest optimala lagerstyrningen. Syfte: Syftet med denna studie är att undersöka vilka konsekvenser som uppstår av att Alutrade inte tar hänsyn till volatila inköpspriser i sin nuvarande lagerstyrning, samt att identifiera vilka lagerstyrningsmetoder, och därmed lagerstyrningspolicy som är lämplig att tillämpa när inköpspriser är volatila för att optimera och uppnå en kostnadseffektiv lageromsättningshastighet. Metod: Uppsatsen behandlas utifrån ett positivistiskt synsätt och ett deduktivt angreppssätt. Uppsatsen har en kvalitativ forskningsmetod men innehåller både kvalitativ och kvantitativ data. Datan har samlats in genom ostrukturerade och semistrukturerade intervjuer, samt mailintervjuer. Resultat: Eftersom Alutrade i dagsläget inte tar så stor hänsyn till de prisförändringar som råder på aluminium marknaden uppstår en del konsekvenser, vilket gör att företagets lagerstyrning påverkas negativt. För att undvika dessa konsekvenser har en lagerstyrningspolicy, som tar hänsyn till volatila inköpspriser, tagits fram. Denna policy utgår från en ABC-klassificering och innehåller lagerstyrningsmetoder såsom modifierad EOQ, beställningspunktsystem vid volatila inköpspriser, säkerhetslager som ett uppskattat antal dagars medelefterfrågan och säkerhetslager beräknat från önskad servicenivå. Med hjälp av den framtagna lagerstyrningspolicyn kan Alutrade undvika konsekvenserna och uppnå de kostnadsbesparingarna som påvisas. / Background: Inventory control is different activities related to how a warehouse is managed. The management of inventory has a big impact on a company's profitability as it manages the activities that concern the inventory and thus has an affect on the tied up capital. However, inventory control is nothing that can be rushed through, since many activities must match. The inventory control becomes even more complex when companies deals with volatile raw materials. When it comes to inventory control of these types of products, it is important to take these changes into account, in order to find the most optimal inventory control. Purpose: The purpose of this thesis is to investigate which consequences that occurs when Alutrade does not take volatile purchase prices into account, furthermore to identify which inventory control methods, and thus inventory control policy, that is suitable to apply when purchase prices are volatile to optimize and achieve a cost-effective inventory turnover. Method: The thesis is based on a positivistic and deductive approach. The study has a qualitative research method but contains both qualitative and quantitative data. The data has been collected through unstructured and semi-structured interviews, as well as mail interviews. Results: As Alutrade currently does not take the price volatility on the aluminum market into much account a number of consequences arise, which means that the company's inventory control is negatively affected. In order to avoid these consequences a inventory control policy, which takes the price volatility into account, has been developed. This policy is based on an ABC classification and contains inventory control methods such as modified EOQ, reorder point system for volatile purchase prices, safety stock as an estimated number of demand days and safety stock calculated from a desired service level. Using the developed inventory control policy, Alutrade can avoid the consequences and achieve the cost savings that are shown.

The elimination of distribution inefficiencies, occurring due to the timing of customers' orders is an important reason for companies to introduce vendor managed inventory programs. By managing their customers' inventories, suppliers may be able to reduce demand variability and therefore distribution costs. We develop technology to measure the effectiveness of distribution strategies. We develop a methodology that allows the computation of tight lower bounds on the total mileage required to satisfy customer demand over a period of time. As a result, companies will be able to gain insight into the effectiveness of their distribution strategy. This technology can also be used to suggest desirable delivery patterns and to analyze tactical and strategic decisions. Secondly, we study the inventory routing problem with continuous moves (IRP-CM). The typical inventory routing problem deals with the repeated distribution of a single product, from a single facility, with an unlimited supply, to a set of customers that can all be reached with out-and-back trips. Unfortunately, this is not always the reality. We introduce the IRP-CM to study two important real-life complexities: limited product availabilities at facilities and customers that cannot be served using out-and-back tours. We need to design delivery tours spanning several days, covering huge geographic areas, and involving product pickups at different facilities. We develop a heuristic and an optimization algorithm to construct distribution plans. The heuristic is an innovative randomized greedy algorithm, which includes linear programming based postprocessing technology. To solve the IRP-CM to optimality, we give a time-discretized integer programming model and develop a branch-and-cut algorithm. As instances of time-discretized models tend to be large we discuss several possibilities for reducing the problem size. We introduce a set of valid inequalities, called delivery cover inequalities, in order to tighten the bounds given by the LP relaxation of the time-discretized model. We also introduce branching schemes exploiting the underlying structure of the IRP-CM. An extensive computational study demonstrates the effectiveness of the optimization algorithm. Finally, we present an integrated approach using heuristics and optimization algorithms providing effective and efficient technology for solving inventory problems with continuous moves.

This master thesis entitled “The study of Logistics procurement with a view to Purchase” is aimed at reducing costs in relation to obtaining, storing and maintaining material resources. The first part of this thesis introduces the company's production program and material standards. After which the relating processes are analyzed and by using theoretical approaches, measures to ensure savings are then proposed. The final part offers a summary of the benefits of the proposed solutions.

En metod som används för lagerstyrning, och som fått ökat intresse inom forskningen de senaste åren, är klassificering med multipla kriterier (MCABC). Däremot har forskningen hittills tenderat att koncentrera sig på utveckling av klassificeringsmodeller snarare än på vägledning för tillämpning av modellerna. Studien påvisade med en litteraturstudie att forskningsområdet klassificering med multipla kriterier hade en begränsad mängd vägledning för tillämpning relativt mängden klassificeringsmodeller som utformats. Därför undersökte studien en modifierad lagerstyrningsstrategi. Syftet med studien var att finna produkter som lämpar sig för lagring av produktionskapacitet och att undersöka effekterna på färdigvarulagret om dessa produkter används för lageruppbyggnad inför säsongen. För att finna sådana produkter utformades en klassificeringsmodell med multipla kriterier, GTS-modellen (Good to Store). Modellen testades genom att ett antal scenarier simulerades på ett urval av produkter av det egentillverkade sortimentet i en fabrik. Detta gjordes i en fallstudie av ett företag inom processindustrin vars sortiment har säsongsvariationer. Resultatet av simuleringarna visade att lageruppbyggnad med GTS-modellen inför säsongen innebar att det genomsnittliga lagervärdet och antalet omställningar för det egentillverkade sortimentet minskade med ungefär 14 % vardera, jämfört med nuläget. Samtidigt kunde servicenivån bibehållas på i princip identisk nivå. Görs motsvarande jämförelse enbart på den simulerade delen av sortimentet blir minskningarna ungefär 35 % vardera. / Multi criteria classification (MCABC) is a method used for inventory management which has gained interest in research in recent years. However, research has tended to focus on the development of classification models rather than guidance on the application of the models. This study demonstrated, using a literature review, that the multi criteria classification field had a limited amount of guidance for application compared to the amount of classification models that were developed. Therefore, this study examined a modified inventory management strategy. The purpose of the study was to find products suitable for storing production capacity and to examine the effects on the finished goods inventory if these products are used for stock build-up prior to the season. A multi criteria classification model, the GTS (Good to Store) model, was developed to find such products. The model was tested by simulating several scenarios on a selection of products from the factory-made range. This was conducted in a case study regarding a company in the process industry whose range has seasonal variations. The simulations showed that stock build-up with the GTS model prior to the season resulted in an approximately 14 % decrease in average inventory value and number of setups for the factory-made range, compared to the current situation. At the same time, the service level was almost completely maintained. If the comparison is made exclusively on the simulated part of the assortment, the decrease will be approximately 35 %.

Магистерская диссертация посвящена разработке методического инструментария, направленного на совершенствование системы управления оборотными средствами на предприятии. В качестве научной новизны выявлена обратно-пропорциональная корреляция между рентабельностью оборотных активов и оборачиваемостью запасов предприятия, а также установлена обратно-пропорциональная зависимость между инфляцией и оборачиваемостью запасов. Автором предложен методический подход к определению потребности в запасах материалов на основе календарного плана-графика, разработаны методические основы для внедрения категорийного подхода к управлению закупками на предприятии. Полученные результаты и рекомендации могут использоваться специалистами предприятий при разработке тактических и стратегических мероприятий по управлению оборотными средствами. / The master's thesis is devoted to the development of methodological tools aimed at improving the working capital management system at the enterprise. As a scientific novelty, an inversely proportional correlation between the profitability of current assets and the turnover of stocks of the enterprise was revealed, and an inversely proportional relationship between the turnover of stocks and inflation was also established. The author has proposed a methodological approach to determining the need for stocks of materials based on a calendar schedule, developed methodological foundations for introduction of a categorical approach to procurement management at enterprise. The obtained results and recommendations can be used by specialists of enterprises in the development of tactical and strategic management measures for working capital.