Inventory control is the systematic control and regulation of purchase, storage and usage of materials in such a way as to maintain an even flow of production and at the same time avoiding excessive investment in materials. Efficient material control reduces loses and wastages of materials that otherwise pass unnoticed.
Inventory control is the core of materials management. The need and importance of material varies in direct proportion to the idle time cost of men and machinery and the urgency of requirements. If men and machinery in the factory could wait and so could customers, materials would not lie in want for then and no inventories, need be carried. But it is highly uneconomical to keep men and machines waiting and the requirements of modern life are so urgent that they cannot wait for materials to arrive after the need for them has arisen. Hence firms must carry materials.
