An official website of the United States government
Here’s how you know
Official websites use .gov
A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States.
Secure .gov websites use HTTPS
A lock (
) or https:// means you’ve safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.
There is a widely held perception that improved supply chain practices and new technologies have led to declines in the inventory-sales ratio. Our empirical analyses of 87 inventory-sales ratios in 45 manufacturing, wholesale distribution, and retail trade industries casts doubt on assumptions of widespread declines in these ratios. We find that less than half of the ratios showed statistically significant declines during the 12 year period from January 1992 through December 2003. Information technology may indeed have improved inventory management, but this improvement is not reflected in inventory-sales ratio data for many U.S. industries. Our detailed case study of the pharmaceutical supply chain also offers additional insights by showing how relevant technological investments led to an extended period in which inventory-to-sales ratios increased.
Share
Related Information
Some content on this site is available in several different electronic formats. Some of the files may require a plug-in or additional software to view.
Top