Supply chain and transport

Information has to follow the goods. When it doesn't, the discrepancy is found at the inventory count, the supplier dispute can no longer be documented, and the invoice gets paid on quantities never received.

This section puts figures on the three questions that come up most: how many days of inventory to carry, what a supplier who delivers badly really costs you in safety stock, and where to start once the easy inventory has already been cut.

It also covers transfers between sites, where instinct often misleads: freight doesn't follow the map, and clearing on the spot sometimes costs less than moving goods you have already paid for.