Seasonality is a common phenomenon in the tourism industry around the world. Húsavík, a town on the northern coast of Iceland, has experienced tremendous growth in tourism in recent years and is sometimes recognised as the „Whale Watching Capital of Europe‟. However, Húsavík faces extreme seasonality with high demand mainly during the summer months and limited or no demand at other times of the year. As is emphasised in the tourism literature and widely in practice, seasonality is frequently seen as a problem for the tourism industry which has to be tackled. Academic research has never before been done on seasonality in Húsavík and the aim of this thesis is to understand the nature of seasonality within the tourism industry in Húsavík and discover potential ways to reduce seasonality in Húsavík tourism. In order to fulfil the aim, qualitative semi-structured interviews were undertaken with six tourism managers in Húsavík to investigate their perceptions of seasonality and if and how it could be managed. The results confirmed that the peripheral location of the destination stimulates seasonality and it poses major economic challenges for tourism businesses in Húsavík. Managers would prefer a longer tourism season. Several recommendations were provided for how to reduce seasonality such as develop other attractions than whale watching, improve accessibility, focus marketing on seasons outside the summer, and offer winter packages for foreign and domestic tourists.

Poor quality of information and forecasting create a number of problems for manufacturing companies, such as poor planning of products and insufficient service levels, which leads to increased inventory and stock holding or stockouts and increased total costs. Cussons (UK) Limited is experiencing precisely these problems. Apart from these problems normally associated with forecasting demand for fast moving consumer goods there is an additional problem of reconciling the Western calendar with the Muslim calendar, and a recognition of the effects that Muslim religious holidays, as opposed to Christian religious holidays, have on demand. Muslim religious holidays rotate backwards with regard to the Western calendar, but in fact they occur at known dates and therefore the effect they have on demand for products can be taken into consideration when attempting to forecast demand. An additional problem that influences Cussons' sales in the market is the seasonal pattern of demand. Due to this, there is an increase in demand for Cussons' products during summer months. From the analysis of both data sets it was identified that the warehouse movement data is less variable and more reliable for business forecasting than order data. In this thesis, these forecasting problems are examined as a case study, focusing on these particular problems. To overcome these problems and to improve business forecasting of Cussons' products in the Middle East market, a forecasting strategy has been suggested which will enable Cusson's to reduce the inventories throughout the supply chain and to improve their customer's service.

Purpose – To analyze the impact on total cost by inventory control methods under the influence of seasonal demand. The purpose will be answered with following research questions: What inventory control methods can be used when there is seasonal demand? What is the impact of inventory control methods on total cost under the influence of seasonal demand? Method – The study was conducted as a case study and the empirical data was collected through interviews and document study. Both of these contributed to the basis for the analysis and for the calculations in the test of the study. Literature study was conducted and included theories for inventory control methods to answer the first research question, as well as formulas for the methods used to answer the second research question. Findings – It appears from the study, the inventory control methods that can be used when there is seasonal demand and during current planning environment is periodic ordering system and cycle service method. These have been tested further in the study. Seasonal index was considered an important method since it dimensions demand which to a high degree regulate the inventory levels and thereby the result of the inventory control methods. Further the study compares none theoretical inventory control methods and theoretical inventory control methods impact on total cost. It is shown that carrying costs, as a part of total cost, can be reduced by 25% during the peak season and 62% during off-season. This without changing the deliverability. Alternatively, the deliverability can be increased by 10% by using inventory control methods without increasing the total cost of the inventory. Implications – The theoretical contribution of the study is that it has increased the knowledge concerning inventory control methods when there is seasonal demand, and the possible results they might bring. The empirical contribution of the study is that companies can use the study as an indication of the economic benefits and motivation for implementing theoretical inventory control methods. Limitations – The tested inventory control methods did not alter the ordering cost, which to a high degree can have an impact on the total cost. The study also shows a possible impact on the inventory control during the current planning environment. If the planning environment changes, the result of the study can be different.

Poor quality of information and forecasting create a number of problems for manufacturing companies, such as poor planning of products and insufficient service levels, which leads to increased inventory and stock holding or stockouts and increased total costs. Cussons (UK) Limited is experiencing precisely these problems. Apart from these problems normally associated with forecasting demand for fast moving consumer goods there is an additional problem of reconciling the Western calendar with the Muslim calendar, and a recognition of the effects that Muslim religious holidays, as opposed to Christian religious holidays, have on demand. Muslim religious holidays rotate backwards with regard to the Western calendar, but in fact they occur at known dates and therefore the effect they have on demand for products can be taken into consideration when attempting to forecast demand. An additional problem that influences Cussons' sales in the market is the seasonal pattern of demand. Due to this, there is an increase in demand for Cussons' products during summer months. From the analysis of both data sets it was identified that the warehouse movement data is less variable and more reliable for business forecasting than order data. In this thesis, these forecasting problems are examined as a case study, focusing on these particular problems. To overcome these problems and to improve business forecasting of Cussons' products in the Middle East market, a forecasting strategy has been suggested which will enable Cusson's to reduce the inventories throughout the supply chain and to improve their customer's service. / Ministry of Education, Government of Pakistan, Cussons (UK)Limited.

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 %.

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