Introduction

Controlling and maintaining inventories of physical goods has always been an issue for enterprises that consume materials in their goods or service production processes. While in the past this field has often been treated as a subordinate, merely operational task, recent developments in supply chain management have given rise to a strong demand for more profound methods for inventory management. The increasing division of labor coupled with the application of multi-national sourcing strategies have led to the formation of complex supply networks that need protection from random disturbances. Protection – but not at any price. The requirements that inventory management methods need to fulfil are thus easily defined: safeguard supply at an acceptable cost level.