Etude d'optimisation de la gestion des stocks de produits finis chez Prayon

Abstract

Inventory management is a key issue which stays at the heart of every manager’s concerns who wants to bring his company towards performance and sustainability. Indeed, stocks are often one of the most expensive elements of the balance sheet. However, they have a lot of different functions that help the company to deal with some mismatches of the supply and demand processes. For that reason, companies must be able to keep a level of stock allowing them to maintain a balance between the consumer satisfaction and its own objectives, in particular in terms of costs. The maintenance of such an optimal inventory level requires a reliable system allowing its follow-up and its control.

In this context, the group Prayon, a worldwide leader in the phosphate sector, wonders about the quality of its inventory management policy, and particularly, about the potential presence of dead stocks in its warehouses. By definition, these specific stocks are goods characterised by a turnover rate of 0 or insignificant.

Therefore, the aim of this project thesis was to realise, through the use of the turnover rate, an in-depth quantitative analysis of the finished goods inventories allowing to confirm, or not, the presence of dead stocks. Then, the causes that led to this problematic situation were identified and solutions allowing cleaning up the situation in the short-term and in a structural way were listed. Finally, the purpose of such a work was also to allow Prayon to prevent similar situation in the future. Consequently, a more reactive stock monitoring and predicting tool was created. Indeed, it enables the company to have a long-term view of the evolution of its stocks.

Globally, the analysis of each finished good allowed Prayon to identify the weaknesses of its current inventory management policy and helped the group to take the necessary resolutions to benefit from the advantages of such an optimal inventory management policy.