Inventory configurations and drivers: an international study of assembling industries

In recent decades, inventory reduction has been a key objective of companies in various industries and is particularly important in the current crisis. Inventory is closely related to a company's production system and supply chain and a one-way strategy towards zero-inventory can be inapplicable or too general. As a matter of fact, there is a complex relationship between inventory types (input, WIP and output) and the factors causing or affecting them. On the basis of three editions of a survey in different assembly industries (IMSS) carried out in 2001, 2005 and 2009, we demonstrate in this paper that the actual configurations that companies adopt, as well as the factors behind the chosen configurations, are stable and consistent over time, in terms of the levels of each type of inventory. We also show that not all of the companies are stuck in a configuration; with the right measures, they can reduce the stock of inventory and become more competitive.