Inventory Management Systems

Software applications that permit monitoring events across a supply chain. These systems track and trace inventory globally on a line-item level and notify the user of significant deviations from plans. Companies are provided with realistic estimates of when material will arrive.With Inventory visibility, organizations are able to make decisions that optimize supply chain performance. Information is available to reduce costs by removing inventory from the supply chain, reducing obsolescence, decreasing operational assets, lowering network operations cost, and decreasing transportation costs. Visibility also increases competitiveness by improving customer satisfaction and market responsiveness.

Source: http://www.apics.org/ (10th ed.)

See: Supply Chain Visibility