Operational Efficiency Improving for Holding Group Using Inventory Policies in a Multi-Echelon Supply Chain

The purpose of the graduation paper is to apply the principles of the system approach to inventory management in a group of trading companies to increase its cost-effectiveness, and to evaluate the proposed changes using the strategic profit model. The objectives of the graduation paper include: analysis of the competitive environment of the holding group, indicators of financial, economic and logistic activities of the focal company; identification of the logistics main problems in the framework of the holding company; changes in the organizational structure of logistics management; construction of a model for the group of companies; evaluation of solutions based on the simulation results, and other leverage embedded in the concept. In the analysis of logistic activity, the following key issues have been identified: inadequate organizational structure of the group companies' management, as a whole, and the focal company, in particular; lack of a systematic inventory management, which hinders the use of capacity on inter-organizational coordination. The object of this study is the inventory management system and the role of the focal company in the holding group in the logistics activities within this holding. The scope of the holding group activity – luxury-fashion retail. In this graduation paper following recommendations have been developed: reorganization of the holding group in order to provide inventory management functions within the focal company, focus on the interests of the whole supply chain, the aim to minimize costs across the channel, the interest to many factors in inventory management. We prove economic feasibility of the practical application of the proposed recommendations. As a result, return on equity in the strategic profit model has increased by 4.77%. Keywords: inventory management, multi-echelon supply chain, luxury-fashion retail, systematic approach, strategic profit model