Inventory management and demand planning

Having too much stock costs money. Having too little costs customers. This training teaches you the balance, with numbers, not with feelings.

In the Supply Value Academy’s Inventory Management and Demand Planning course, planners and inventory managers learn how to balance service levels and inventory costs in two days: from demand forecasting and safety stock to ordering strategies and assortment differentiation. The training combines mathematical calculations based on realistic datasets with immediately applicable guidelines.

Why this training

Inventory is frozen cash on the shelf, but selling it is even more expensive. Every planner fluctuates between those two truths, and too often it happens based on experience and gut feeling rather than evidence.

In two days you get the toolbox: predicting what can be predicted, safety stocks that match your service goals, and the right ordering strategy per item group. You use real datasets so that on Monday you know what else you’re going to do.

You can do this afterwards

  • You make demand predictions that fit the behavior of your product range, and you know when predicting is pointless.
  • You calculate safety stocks based on service goals instead of gut feelings.
  • You differentiate your assortment (ABC/XYZ) and choose the appropriate ordering strategy for each segment.
  • You create the business case: what better inventory management will deliver for your organization.

Target group

Demand and supply planners, inventory managers, buyers with inventory responsibility, and supply chain professionals in manufacturing, wholesale, and retail.

Previous knowledge: basic experience with plans or inventory; comfortable with Excel.

Program

  • Recognizing demand patterns: trend, season, erratic and dead
  • Forecast methods that you can apply yourself, plus the error measures to assess them
  • Safety stock and service level: the formula, the assumptions and the pitfalls
  • Rekenlab on a realistic dataset
  • ABC/XYZ differentiation: not everything deserves the same attention
  • Ordering strategies: ordering point, ordering interval and cooperation with suppliers
  • Dealing with promotions, seasons, and uncertain delivery times
  • Your improvement plan: the three biggest opportunities in your own inventory

Trainer

Elias de Haan, Supply Value
Elias de Haan

Your trainers optimize inventories and planning processes in trading and manufacturing companies, including Elias de Haan [verify]. They know from experience which theory survives in practice, and which does not.

Frequently asked questions

No, deliberately not. We work with Excel and universal principles, so that you can apply what you learn to any system, from ERP modules to custom-made tools. The mindset is the product, not the buttons.

Absolutely, exactly then. A significant part of the training is about what to do when predictions don't come true: differentiation, buffers in the right places, and agreements with suppliers to absorb uncertainty.

Practical information

€ 1,395 p.p., excluding VAT

€ 3,950 per group per day (up to 8 participants; hall and catering provided by the client)

Duration
2 training days
Next date
12 May 2027
Location
Zeist (office), another location by arrangement, or in-house at your location
Training format
Open registration and in-house
Educational level
HBO
Group size
Maximum of 12 participants
Study tax
Training days plus approximately 2 hours of preparation per day
Language
Dutch
Certificate
Certificate from the Supply Value Academy
Sector focus
Industry, retail & logistics
Bookability
Open registration according to the scheduled dates. Without scheduled dates, the training can only be booked in-house.
Included
Training material, certificate and lunch
Payment
Invoice immediately after registration; payment term 14 days

Prices exclude VAT · free cancellation up to 4 weeks in advance

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Start learning

Check the start dates and sign up.

Check the next dates and sign up, or request an in-house proposal; then we will calculate the costs based on your own product range data.

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60 minutes of intake + 5 working days of analysis + feedback. Free of charge and without obligation.

We will contact you within 1 working day to arrange an intake date.