Dynamic development strategy for Tamro and Apoteket's supply chain

Abstract

There is an increasing focus on supply chains in all types of businesses. This means that instead of optimising the own activities, companies work towards the best and most cost efficient solutions for the whole supply chain. One really important area to work with when companies are working with supply chain improvements is the inventory control system. This paper is dealing with how an inventory control system should be designed to reach the biggest possible benefits to the lowest costs for a whole supply chain. Tamro would through a better inventory control system, get the possibility to improve their internal organisation in their warehouses. But the first and most important factor is an improved general control and a more capital efficient business. Seen from Apoteket's point of view, this kind of improvement would reduce the daily physical handling of incoming products and the total ordering cost would most likely decrease with an improved inventory system. The optimal inventory control system would be an implementation of an automatic replenishment system like VMI (Vendor Managed Inventory). To reach this goal I recommend that Tamro build up a more sophisticated co-operation with Apoteket. This could for example be through the following four steps, directive, co-operation, Base-stock system and finally VMI.