SELECTING THE BEST PERIODIC INVENTORY CONTROL AND DEMAND FORECASTING METHODS FOR LOW DEMAND ITEMS

The (s,S) form of the periodic review inventory control system has bee n claimed theoretically to be the best for the management of items of low and intermittent demand. Various heuristic procedures have been pu t forward usually justified on the basis of generated data with known properties. Some stack controllers also have other simple rules which they employ and which are rarely seen in the literature. Determining h ow to forecast future demands is also a major problem in the area. The research described in this paper compares various periodic inventory policies as well as some forecasting methods and attempts to determine which are best for low and intermittent demand items. It evaluates th e alternative methods on some long series of daily demands for low dem and items for a typical spare parts depot.