Conference paper
The Role of SKU Management in SKU Rationalisation Projects
Operations Management, Management Science, Department of Technology, Management and Economics, Technical University of Denmark1
Management Science, Department of Technology, Management and Economics, Technical University of Denmark2
Department of Technology, Management and Economics, Technical University of Denmark3
University of Southern Denmark4
The increased demand for product variety implies that many manufacturing companies are struggling with the negative effects of stock keeping unit (SKU) proliferation in product portfolios. This implies that many companies implement SKU rationalisation programmes to deal with product and process complexity.
However, many industry companies report that they do not gain the financial benefits that they expected from optimizing their portfolios. To improve the understanding of this phenomenon, this paper studies an unsuccessful SKU rationalisation project at a hearing healthcare company. The case study revealed that what appeared to be a great potential for reducing inventories through SKU rationalisation turned out to be more of an SKU management problem.
Specifically, analyses showed that 19% of the hearing devices' product portfolios had multiple SKUs for the same product variant, and that SKU rationalisation would only produce minimal inventory-related benefits. The case study therefore demonstrates the importance of proper SKU management in identifying fruitful SKU rationalisation projects.
Language: | English |
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Publisher: | IEEE |
Year: | 2021 |
Pages: | 259-263 |
Proceedings: | International Conference on Industrial Engineering and Engineering Management |
ISBN: | 1665437715 and 9781665437714 |
Types: | Conference paper |
DOI: | 10.1109/IEEM50564.2021.9672940 |
ORCIDs: | Staskiewicz, A. M. and Hvam, L. |