Information technology as way of controlling inventory cost in the timber industrya case study of Ghana specialized timber products limited, Kumasi

Abstract

A large portion of an organisation funding kept in stores is the inventory. Inventory is acompany's raw materials, finished and unfinished products which have not yet been sold. The profit made by any organisation is directly proportional to inventory cost incurred.A lot of timber organisations have poor system ineffective control and management of inventory. The researcher find inventory to be an area for savings and cost reduction. There have similar research in the timber area but within different geographical areas like Takoradi which also focuses on the employment of Information Communications Technology to assist the industry’s growth.This paper seeks to have a thorough study in the Inventory Control System in Ghana Specialized Timber Products Limited, providing necessary measures for cost reduction in Inventory and additionally to suggest proposals to management of the firm to assist, control and manage inventory in relation to cost. The researcher employed questionnaires, personal interviews, documenting materials, informal discussion, general observation and reference from library records on related literature as the methodology for this article.From the study the researcher found out that there were not enough stores location and lack of identification system exist within the industry. Additionally the absence of in-service training for staff of the firm also contributed to the lack of control and management of inventory.The implication of the above findings is that if this situation is not remedied, production will go down. The company’s loss is as result of inadequate storage facility and bad identification system.