How to apply inventory management in a PC company : A case study of Lenovo Company

Abstract: In recent years, Inventory management has become one of the most importantparts in a company supply chain management. For a company, how to get effectiveand reasonable inventory management to reduce production costs becomes animportant topic in today's enterprise management.The development of inventory management in China is still at start-up stage.This thesis chose Lenovo as case study Company and analyzed the problem inLenovo’s inventory management process. By comparing with Lenovo’s previous andcurrent inventory management model, this thesis presents reasonable measurements ofimplementing vendor management inventory in Lenovo. Vendor managed inventory isan integrated approach for retailer–vendor coordination (Darwish & Odah, 2010).In this case study, in order to get the basic information about Lenovo, interviewshave been used. Other data were colleted from literature review and Lenovo annualreport. The VMI technology's impact on Lenovo was gradually revealed throughlong-term practice. It improved production flexibility, the core competitiveness of theentire supply chain and even corporate brand image. The VMI also helped Lenovo toreduce inventory and logistics operating costs and improve management capabilitiesand operational efficiency. Several features of Lenovo's VMI model have beenpresented in this thesis. They are information sharing, cost saving, sales forecasting,customer service level, quick response, and suppliers work all of which together toachieve a win-win situation and coordination of product supply and demand.