Is there a way to track all inventory
inaccuracies in many business? Recent developments by professors from the
Naveen Jindal School of Management are proposing a new algorithm that may solve
inventory problems for businesses in the future. This new technique may be very
beneficial preventing theft and spoilage. However, some companies may not solve
all their inventory problems using this method. The article mentions how
misplacement is a key factor for inventory problems in businesses such as
bookstores. It would be pointless for the bookstore industry to spend a large
sum of money on this new technology when they can easily fix their problem by
being more attentive and organized. One point that is interesting to comment on
is that companies are already using technologies to keep track of inventories.
But there is a catch. All these inventory technologies are run by humans.
Humans are subject to error which makes this method inaccurate. I personally
believe that the new algorithm being developed will provide most companies much
success in the future. It will allow them to keep track of their inventory more
successfully and enables them to pinpoint exactly where they are losing
money.
Something negative that this new algorithm proposes is the cost. It will be extremely expensive for companies to implement this technique. Companies must assess if it will be worth it for them to spend this much money on the new algorithm because it would be a waste for them if it doesn't really work. Businesses will have to
become vulnerable to allow the researchers to analyze every aspect of their
company and determine how much money will be saved with this method. It will be
interesting to see if once these companies implement the new algorithm if it
actually succeeds or not. As mentioned previously, I believe it can be
successful however there are still some factors that will negate that statement.
If a company is loosing their inventory from theft than you cannot necessarily
prevent people from continuing to steal. The article is vague in terms of what
exactly this technology can do to help prevent the loss of inventory. The
question here is are the researchers going to help companies install a better
security system to prevent further theft? What does this algorithm entail? I guess the only way we can find how it works is when the researchers stop testing on models and actually start implementing their technology into businesses.
For businesses this new algorithm should be very helpful in finding errors when looking at inventory. But is that all it can do? I agree with Lindsay that if the problem for all this inventory error is just misplacement then that is something that can be easily fixed if people just listen and pay closer attention to details. I understand humans are susceptible to human error which is one reason it may be better to use a computer anyway but they should develop a technology that could fix the problem not just tell them what is wrong to begin with. Like Lindsay said, if the problem is theft then people should create something that helps catch thieves therefore fixing the problem. Is this technology worth the cost if all it does is tell you what is wrong and cannot do anything about it? That is one problem I think can be improved and then people will spend the money for this technology.
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