Electives

Unit 1

Introduction to warehousing

Concepts – Decision making – Operations – Need for warehousing – issues affecting warehousing – various warehousing facilities – different types of warehouses – characteristics of ideal warehouses.

Unit 2

Introduction to inventory management

Role in supply chain – role in competitive strategy – Role of inventory – functions of inventory – types of inventories – WIP inventory – finished goods inventory – MRO inventories – cost of inventories – need to hold inventory.

Unit 3

Warehouse management systems

The necessity of WMS – Logics of determining locations and sequences – independent demand systems – uncertainties in material management systems – dependent demand systems – distribution resource planning.

Unit 4

ABC Inventory control

Managing inventories by ABC – multi-echelon inventory systems – Managing inventory in multi- echelon networks – managing inventory in single-echelon networks – Various approaches – distribution approaches – the true multi-echelon approach.

Unit 5

The principles and performance measures of material handling systems

Vehicle travel path(time) – Handling time – vehicle utilization – number of loads completed – congestion – Effective performance systems – Fundamentals of various types of material handling systems – automated storage and retrieval systems – Barcoding technology and applications RFID technology.

Course Objective:

To provide students with a comprehensive understanding of warehousing concepts, decision- making processes, and operational needs, including the different types of warehouses, facilities available, and the characteristics that define an ideal warehouse.

Course Outcomes:

The student will be able to:

CO1: Analyze the various concepts, needs, issues, and types of warehousing, and understand the characteristics of ideal warehouses.

CO2: Explain the role of inventory in competitive strategy and the supply chain.

CO3: Implement WMS principles to optimize warehouse operations.

CO4: Compare and contrast various inventory management approaches in single-echelon and multi- echelon networks.

CO5: Assess the effectiveness of material handling systems using performance metrics such as vehicle travel time, handling time, and vehicle utilization.

Textbook:

1. Stephen Frey – Management Guide to Efficient Money Saving Warehousing – Gower, 1982.

References:

• J P Saxena – Warehouse Management and Inventory Control – Vikas Publishing House
• Michael Ten Hompel, Thorsten Schmidt – Warehouse Management: Automation and Organisation of Warehouse and Order Picking Systems – Springer Publication