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The purpose of this book is to point out possibilities for reducing the inventory of semi-finished products based on the example of a German SME (small and medium-sized enterprises) in the steel rope industry. Inventory reduction increases the flexibility of the company and decreases tied up capital. Therefore it is necessary to identify the factors which are influencing the inventory level. These factors have been analysed by collecting empirical data and comparing these results with theory. Product delivery strategy, decoupling point strategy and postponement strategy are the theoretical frame work used to answer the research question. The main result of this thesis is that Drako is not able to move the decoupling point dramatically because this change would increase the set-up times. Therefore postponement strategies have to be applied to delay the point of product definition.

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He is working as a Research Associate in the field of Operations Management at the University of Applied Sciences Steyr (Austria). Currently he conducts his PhD studies in the field of production logistics at the University of Vienna. His research interests are in the field of capacity and inventory optimization, production planning and control.

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