The effects of inventory management on operations of manufacturing industries in Uganda: a case study of Uganda Clays Limited
Abstract
The study examined the effects of inventory management on manufacturing companies. A survey with a sample of 60 respondents was selected by use of clustered sampling and random sampling was undertaken. Data was collected by use of a self-administered questionnaire and with the help of secondary data from the company’s literature. The data was then analyzed using statistical package for social sciences (SPSS) version 24. The study concluded that proper material handling technique plays an important function on the performance of private companies because it maintains proper running of the production department, controls quality of the company products out of the production department, control time management reduction on labor with its associated costs for improved performance of the Companies’ operations, helping the production department to perform well, increase on the company profits, help in the assessment of taxes and help in the process of determining the company sales volume for understanding of the company performance and derive towards better performance of the Companies; the kind of relationship between inventory management techniques and performance of private companies in Uganda can either be positive or negative depending on how the techniques of inventory management are used and how it is applied; challenges faced by these companies in the process of managing inventories include; loss in inventories, un predetermined products demand, opportunity costs, administration costs, theft and labor turnover, load shedding among other challenges faced by the company.
The study recommended management in manufacturing companies to always forward planning, centralize the purchase and store function, carry out stock taking exercise periodically, top management in most organizations to emphasis on the proper inventory management techniques and measuring of efficiency deviations to identify weaknesses in the process of managing inventories, managers in organizations to undertake forward production planning. Lastly, further studies are suggested on the following areas as: the effect of materials handling techniques on employee’s efficiency in private organizations and the relationship between labor turnover and employees’ efficiency among manufacturing companies in Uganda.