How might the economic-order-quantity decision model help Heartland plan and control inventory?

Heartland Fabrication has entered the commercial market. One of its customer bases is retail outlets purchasing steel racks. Heartland manufactures these racks and stores them in a large warehouse prior to shipment.

The accounting team at Heartland is looking for ways to reduce carrying costs of the inventory, and it needs a long-term plan. Production is fairly constant and inventory levels ebb and flow based on demand. This affects carrying costs and often results in the inability to fulfill and order or having excess inventory.

  • Describe the types of costs associated with carrying inventory.
  • How might the economic-order-quantity decision model help Heartland plan and control inventory?
  • What would be the advantages and disadvantages of a just-in-time inventory system for Heartland?

What steps might have been taken to detect David’s alleged industrial espionage?

David Doe is a network administrator for the ABC Company. David is passed over for promotion three times. He is quite vocal in his dissatisfaction with this situation. In fact, he begins to express negative opinions about the organization in general. Eventually, David quits and begins his own consulting business. Six months after David’s departure, it is discovered that a good deal of the ABC Company’s research has suddenly been duplicated by a competitor. Executives at ABC suspect that David Doe has done some consulting work for this competitor and may have passed on sensitive data. However, in the interim since David left, his computer has been formatted and reassigned to another person. ABC has no evidence that David Doe did anything wrong.

What steps might have been taken to detect David’s alleged industrial espionage?

What steps might have been taken to prevent his perpetrating such an offense?