| Inventory management is an extremely important practice for corporations because of its significant effect on cost. Effective inventory management enables companies to control their lock-ups. Such effective inventory management comes from precise market knowledge. Sales forecasting offers a good way to identify and anticipate market fluctuations, minimize leftover stock and supply customers' demand.;Only a precise type of company is concerned by this dissertation, notably those in the textile industry, which produces a large range of patterns with many small variations (colors, size, customizations, etc.) which have a limited lifetime. Inventory management is difficult due to the multitude of products to account for and the necessity to sell them quickly.;This master dissertation concerns inventory management at the end of the supply chain. In store, the number of references, their similarities and the necessity to minimize unsold stock greatly complicates the re-ordering and re-stocking process. These types of companies do not easily lend themselves to classic techniques of sales forecasting and require particular methods in order to precisely estimate their needs.;This master dissertation aims to present a general method to set up sales forecasting and to integrate it into the inventory management process. This inventory management software would interpret forecasting to provide users with a decision support system to minimize stocks in stores and avoid missed sales. |
