Inventory Control Manager

☛ How good are you in math on a scale from 1 to 10?

☛ Are you familiar with cycle counting? Why would you use it?

☛ How is EOQ important and how do you use it?

☛ How do you calculate the value of inventory?

☛ Have you used ABC analysis of inventory control? Can you explain it to me?

☛ What do you know of Material Requirements Planning (MRP) systems?

☛ What do you think COGS means to our business?

☛ How do you ensure accuracy in documenting inventory?

☛ Tell me about yourself?

☛ What are your biggest strengths?

☛ Why did you leave your last job?

☛ What are your career goals for inventory management specialist?

☛ Why do you want to work here?

☛ What are your greatest weaknesses for inventory management specialist?

☛ What do you know about our organization?

☛ What kind of salary are you looking for inventory management specialist?

☛ Why should we hire you?

☛ Do you have any questions?

☛ Describe the most difficult scheduling problem you have faced at Inventory Control Manager position.

☛ Tell me about a time when you had to give someone difficult feedback.

☛ Tell me about an important issue you encountered recently.

☛ What motivates your best work?

☛ Have you handled a difficult situation with a co-worker? How?

☛ What were your annual goals at your most current employer?

☛ What questions do you have for me?

☛ Tell me what you did to ensure inventory meets quality standards in your previous job

☛ Recall a time when you implemented an optimized procedure for inventory management

☛ Describe a time you showed excellent leadership

☛ Tell me about a time you had a conflict with the logistics or accounting department. How did you resolve it?

This breakdown makes it easier to make sound decisions about appropriate levels for each of these three areas. It helps determine the minimum safety stock needed to provide an insurance policy against supply chain problems either from manufacturing glitches or distribution uncertainties so that customers get what they ordered. It's useful for pinpointing the amount of inventory required to replenish deliveries every two weeks. And it helps companies find ways to avoid a backlog of excess or obsolete inventory.

Typically, excess and obsolete stock stems from ineffective sales forecasting, planning or using a business model that fails to factor in product complexity and life cycles correctly. Inventory leaders establish processes to determine why excesses are being created and then develop a plan of action to sell it off. In some instances, the fear of the write-off has led to a large buildup over time of obsolete inventory.

☛ What performance standards do you have for your unit?

☛ How do you establish good communication and information flow with others?

☛ Do you find your job exciting or boring?

☛ What have you learned from your mistakes?

☛ What do you think this Inventory Control Manager position involves.

☛ What is the most difficult thing about working with you?

☛ Tell me about your proudest achievement.

Inventories are those completely manufactured products which are ready for sale. Stocks of raw materials and work-in-process facilitate production, while stock of finished goods is required for smooth marketing operations. Thus, inventories serve as a link between the production and consumption of goods.

☛ Are you using statistical formulas that incorporate the accuracy of sales forecasts, required production lead times, manufacturing schedule adherence and service-level data for each SKU?

☛ Or are you using a simple rule of thumb such as "all products made in factory ABC need 15 days of safety stock."

The problem with the rule-of-thumb approach is that typically it's based on products with the most uncertain delivery histories. Efficient operations use a standard statistical formula that looks at historical data for individual products.

One of the most common mistakes made by supply organizations is looking at only a small subset of all inventory—the finished goods sitting in major warehouses—even though raw materials, works in process, spare parts and even goods in retail stores can make up 50 percent of the total. As a result, they miss potential savings. An organizational map of all inventories will help better prioritize ways to reduce inventories. And all the inventory techniques we've discussed apply.

Many decisions about inventory levels are strategically important. So instead of relying solely on the supply organization to decide, executives need to have a major say in the fundamental issues that impact inventory management—everything from determining the right breadth and complexity of product offerings to optimal plant and distribution footprints.

Companies with efficient inventory management create two task forces with linked action plans. The first task force identifies the root causes and determines ways to reduce the creation of new excess and obsolete stock. The second focuses on ways to sell off the stock more effectively. It provides the sales team with a list of top excess or obsolete products to push to ensure that they're discounting specified excess products.

Supply-savvy operations update their calculations about every three to six months to ensure that decisions are based on the most accurate information.

Once you've reduced inventories, you'll have to put new processes in place to lower them even more over time. We use an analytical tool that highlights the biggest levers for continually reducing inventory. For example, instead of working to improve sales forecast accuracy from 70 percent to just 75 percent, establishing a team that's focused on reducing lead times from Asian suppliers may have more impact.

By following your inventory policy you should be able to realize important advantages in inventory control. The first is reduced costs for inventories, along with reduced amounts of inventory. Theft and shrinkage should also be reduced if inventory policy is followed. The final benefit will be increased profits for the store.

For inventory control to work at its best a store must consider the costs of acquisition, carrying, ordering, and stock-out. the store must also look at its reordering system, its budgeting for inventory, insurance and forecasted demand.