The Effective Inventory Management Workshop

Date: March 25-26, 2025

Location: Crowne Plaza Indianapolis Airport
Indianapolis, IN 46241

317-244-6861

For EIM block room reservations: Please call Crowne Plaza Indianapolis Airport
(Room block cut-off date is March 5, 2025; room rate is $134/night.)

Instructors:  Jon Schreibfeder and Matt Schreibfeder

Continuing Education credit: 14 hours

Click here to view agenda

Looking ahead to March 2025, we do not know where we will be in our recovery or in our dealing with evolving supply chain issues and inflation. Perhaps we will have challenges that we cannot imagine now. Jon will be updating the Workshop to address where the business world is in 2025, and discuss ways of dealing with challenges such as evolving supply chain disruptions, inflation, and rising interest rates by adjusting forecast models and other replenishment parameters, etc.

Registration includes:

• A comprehensive two-day workshop where we will explore the concepts and strategies of inventory control and management. Multiple examples and case studies will be presented to show how organizations implanted best practices and maximized the productivity and profitability of their investment in inventory.
• You can use data from your own organization in forecasting and analysis spreadsheets developed by EIM to conduct “what-if” scenarios to illustrate the concepts and principles presented. Prior to the seminar, you will send us your data (according to the template we will provide).  The data will be examined, ranked, and prepared for your use in the workshop.  If you choose not to use your own data, a sample data base will be provided.
• A copy of Achieving Effective Inventory Management, 6^th
• A copy of all the Power Point slides used in the workshop bound in a 3-to-a-page syllabus so you can follow along and take notes.
• The spreadsheets used in the seminar (along with detailed instructions) so you can perform this same analysis on your own inventory data.
• a half hour web session with Jon to help you individualize and implement your plan to achieve effective inventory management in your company.
• Continental breakfast and hot lunch both days
• Wireless, high-speed internet access in the meeting room
• Complimentary transportation to and from the Crowne Plaza and Indianapolis Airport

Learning Objectives:

Best of all, as we proceed through the session, you will develop step-by-step instructions necessary to develop and maintain an effective inventory management program for your company as you achieve the following learning objectives:

• Measure the productivity and profitability of your investment in inventory.
• Identify products that are not contributing to your overall inventory-related goals and might be candidates for liquidation.
• Identify and analyze possible unusual sales or usage.
• Recognize the specific components necessary to develop a meaningful forecast of future demand for each stocked product.  During this segment, we will look at several popular methods of forecasting to determine the “best” method for your inventory.
• Measure and improve forecast accuracy.
• State how promotions, environmental factors and special products can be incorporated into a forecast.
• Decide whether is it better to buy from a vendor, transfer from a central warehouse or assemble a product in house.
• State the effect that longer and shorter lead times have on your total inventory investment and the service you provide your customers.
• Decide on the “right” amount of safety stock or reserve inventory for each item to balance customer service and profitability as well as several methods for determining this quantity.
• Determine how often you should issue replenishment orders for each source of supply (especially when vendors offer different terms for different sized orders or you have to decide between several vendors)
• Identify the best replenishment parameters and reorder quantity for each stocked item.
• Determine optimal inventory for each product (expressed as an average monetary amount and number of days’ supply) compared to your current inventory.
• Identify how much excess inventory your suppliers are forcing you to carry.
• Determine when it is in your best interest to take advantage of special discounts, payment terms or other incentives.
• State how changing your business objectives will affect inventory performance.
• Implement a simple way to determine what product or vendor lines need the most attention from a buyer.
• Implement the best “total performance” measurements for your investment in inventory.

Because we are dealing with your data and “live” software, we will perform a lot of “what if” analyses and you will discover how making small adjustments to your current practices can result in big improvements.  Best of all you will discover your organization’s unique potential because you can perform all analysis with your own data!

As we proceed through the course, you will develop a list of action items to complete in the upcoming several months.  During the last segment of the course, we will organize these action items into a comprehensive plan to achieve effective inventory management.

Jon will be updating the Workshop as we move from the October 2024 Workshop to March 2025, to address where the business world is in March.   He will discuss ways of dealing with challenges such as supply chain disruptions, adjusting forecast models and other replenishment parameters.

To achieve maximum benefit from the course, all participants should bring a laptop equipped with Excel® software.  Participants, who wish to confidentially use their own company data, should submit their data to EIM by March 14, 2025, before the workshop.  A template for the data we will use in the seminar will be emailed upon registration.  Your data will be checked for validation, ranked, and loaded onto our EIM Spreadsheets or your custom EIM spreadsheets on a USB Drive.  You will receive the USB Drive when you check in at the Workshop and then please load it onto your laptop.  For those participants who cannot obtain the necessary data from their organizations, a sample data base will be supplied.

Who Will Teach the Course?

Jon Schreibfeder is President of Effective Inventory Management, Inc., a firm dedicated to helping manufacturers, distributors, and retailers get the most out of their investment in stock inventory.  Jon literally “grew up” in a family-owned distribution business and started studying inventory management philosophies and best practices in the late 1960s. In the early 1980s, Jon went on to become a distribution industry “trouble shooter” for two major computer companies.  His task was to help the computer companies’ customers use their available computer tools to better manage their largest asset, inventory.  Over the past 30 years, Jon has helped over 2500 organizations improve their productivity and profitability through better inventory management.  He is a frequent contributor to over a dozen industry publications and is the author of a series of books on effective inventory management. A featured speaker at seminars and conventions throughout North America, Europe, Latin America, Asia, and the Pacific Rim, Jon has been awarded the title “Subject Matter Expert” in inventory management by the American Productivity and Quality Center. STAFDA has endorsed Jon as their Inventory Consultant since 2006.  He is a regular guest lecturer and is on the Advisory Board of the Dept. of Industrial Technology at Purdue University.

Matt Schreibfeder has recently joined EIM as our Vice President of Research and Analytics.  Prior to joining EIM, he was employed for several years by ExxonMobil as a project operations analyst and was a submarine officer in the U.S. Navy.  He is a 2007 graduate of the Virginia Military Institute majoring in mechanical engineering.  He also earned  master’s degree in engineering management from Old Dominion Univ.  Matt will be working extensively with our clients as well as developing new tools and methods for achieving effective inventory management.

Quotes from recent EIM seminar attendees:

(Names, companies, and phone numbers provided on request. Call EIM at (972) 304-3325 or email [email protected])

Registration fee: $950 – Early Bird rate is $875; expires March 14, 2025.
Data due on March 14, 2025 (if you wish to confidentially use your company data in the analyses and exercises).

Includes: 2 days of Workshop Instruction; continental breakfast and hot, buffet lunch both days; a copy of Achieving Effective Inventory Management, 6th ed. book; electronic copy of EIM Version 5 Spreadsheets; bound and electronic copies of all PowerPoint slides used during the Workshop, high-speed wireless internet in meeting room, complimentary shuttle between the Crowne Plaza and Indianapolis airport, free parking at the Crowne Plaza.

Refund Policy

Full refund up to 30 days prior to seminar.  50% refund granted if cancellation notice received 14-30 days prior to seminar.   No refund within 14 days of seminar date.  Substitutions are allowed at any time, but please notify us at 972-304-3325.

Please direct any complaints to Maureen at 972-304-3325.