Books by David Piasecki of InventoryOps.com

I'm very proud of the books I've written and I hope you'll find them useful in your efforts to improve your operations. My goal in writing these books was to write books I would have liked to have been able to read years ago when I was trying to learn all this stuff. I've always been a fan of good DIY books, and for decades have used them to work on my vehicles, fix my house, learn computer software, etc. I have to say I was a bit disappointed when I started reading books about inventory management and warehouse operations. Sure, there was something to be learned from most of them, but not to the level of detail I was expecting.

So I took what I liked about other DIY and self-study books and used that to help guide me in writing these books. I wanted the books to be understandable to people who had no experience with these topics, yet still contain advanced topics and tips that would be valuable to those with much more experience. I'm also very opinionated on certain aspects of these topics and wanted to make sure I was able to include a bit of attitude in these books. With three decades of experience working in warehousing, manufacturing, and inventory management as both a consultant and practitioner, I've seen plenty of wrong ways of doing things. Some of these "wrong ways" have been accepted for years as standard practices or even "best practices", so I wanted to make sure I provided enough detailed information to my readers to help them make the right choices.

You can order the books direct from me at InventoryBooks.com. My books are also available on Amazon.com.

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Released 2018

Saving Warehouse Space: Equipment, Methods, Strategies, and a little Math.

 Most businesses that carry inventory will experience space issues at some point in time. It’s important to understand how to make the most of the space you have. While storage equipment and material handling equipment can be an essential part of making the most of the space you have, there is more to it than just equipment.

Saving Warehouse Space explains storage capacity. Not just theoretical capacity (how much you can potentially store), but more importantly, the book explains utilization and working capacity. Without an understanding of utilization and working capacity, you may be making the wrong equipment and layout decisions. In addition, Saving Warehouse Space explains how choices related to pick faces and slotting impact utilization and working capacity.

And, of course, Saving Warehouse Space covers equipment choices and options for aisle widths. Going to narrow or very narrow aisles can provide significant space savings, but you need to make sure you are making the right choices for your specific facility. Saving Warehouse Space even covers lower-cost options to go very narrow aisle.

Other topics include options for offsite storage, and how cost models such as Economic Order Quantity and Equipment Return-On-Investment calculations may need to be tweaked to account for space limitations.

Available at InventoryBooks.com or Amazon.com

Inventory Accuracy : People, Processes, & Technology.

Newly released second edition with updates to technology topics. 

Inventory accuracy starts with an understanding of the conditions under which errors occur and ends with error-resistant processes, intelligent use of technology, a well-trained and highly motivated workforce, and an ongoing process of continuous improvement. In between, there’s cycle counting, root cause analysis, process evaluation, user interface design, procedures, employee training, accountability, control methods, process checks, audits, exception reporting, transaction techniques, measurement, counting methods, bar codes, RF systems, speech-based technology, light systems, and software.

Inventory Accuracy: People, Processes, & Technology covers all of these topics and more in a comprehensive treatment of the subject of inventory accuracy in distribution, fulfillment, and manufacturing environments. In addition to documenting the standard tools and techniques used to achieve accuracy, the author provides insights as to why many of the standard solutions don’t provide the best results and offers alternative methods. The focus on practical solutions that take into account the sometimes-conflicting priorities that affect accuracy, results in an approach that not only looks good on paper, but more importantly, works in the real world.

Topics Covered Include:

• Physical inventories
• Cycle counting
• Training
• Audits
• Backflushing
• Bar code scanners
• Portable computers
• Blind counts
• Checking methods
• Confirmation transactions
• Employee testing
• Event-triggered count methods
• Cycle count options
• Counting scales
• Voice-directed tasks
• Pick-to-light
• Reconciling counts
• Warehouse management systems
• Locator systems
• Negative inventory
• Non-stock inventory
• Unit-of-measure conversions
• Multi-plant processing
• 24/7 operations
• Outsourcing
• WIP tracking
• Scrap reporting
• 1D and 2D bar codes
• Paperless systems
• ABC stratification
• Accuracy measurements
• RFID
• Allocations
• Error analysis

Available at InventoryBooks.com or Amazon.com

Inventory Management Explained: A focus on Forecasting, Lot Sizing, Safety Stock, and Ordering Systems.

Inventory Management isn't easy. If it were, more companies would be good at it. But being competent at managing your inventory isn't all that difficult either. It just requires that you invest the time to develop an understanding of the factors that should be affecting your inventory management decisions. Then use this understanding to start to put together the calculations and decision logic you will use to manage your inventory.

Explained. Calculations for forecasting, lot sizing, and safety stock are well known to the inventory management community, but are generally not understood to the level necessary to effectively use them. This lack of understanding results in incomplete calculations, incorrect inputs, flawed logic, or a fall back to less effective, keep-it-simple approaches.

Inventory Management Explained helps readers build a solid understanding of the key planning aspects of inventory management. It does this by clearly explaining what inventory management is, but then goes well beyond typical inventory management books by tearing apart the calculations and logic we use in inventory management and exposing the hidden (or not so hidden) flaws and limitations. It then builds on this by showing readers how they can use their understanding of inventory management and their specific business needs to modify these calculations or develop their own calculations to more effectively manage their inventory. The emphasis on practical solutions means readers can actually use what they've learned.

For those new to inventory management, the author includes highly detailed explanations and numerous examples. Instead of archaic mathematical syntax, the author explains the calculations in plain English and uses Excel formulas and spreadsheet examples for many of them.

For the experienced practitioner, the author provides insights and a level of detail they likely have not previously experienced. Overall, Inventory Management Explained does actually explain inventory management, and in doing so, exposes the good, the bad, and the ugly aspects of it. But more importantly, it leaves the readers knowing enough to be able to start making smart decisions about how they manage their inventory. 

Topics Covered Include:

• The basics of inventory management.
• Forecasting.
• Trend adjustments.
• Seasonality indexes.
• Safety stock calculation.
• Lot sizing / order quantities.
• EOQ with quantity discounts.
• Ordering systems.
• MRP
• DRP
• Measurement and analysis.

Available at InventoryBooks.com or Amazon.com