Glossary · MES and ISA-95
Inventory operations management
German: Bestandsmanagement
In ISA-95 / IEC 62264, inventory operations management is one of the four main categories of manufacturing operations management at Level 3. It covers the activities that manage and track the storage and movement of materials within manufacturing operations, such as receiving, storing, transferring and staging materials and products between production areas.
- MES
- Standards
In one sentence
In ISA-95, inventory operations management covers the Level 3 activities for storing, moving and tracking materials within manufacturing.
Example
Inventory operations management moves pallets of raw material from the warehouse to the line-side buffer and records each transfer against the lot number.
How it applies
- Engineering: IEC 62264-3 describes this category with the generic activity model: resource management, definition management, detailed scheduling, dispatching, execution management, data collection, tracking and performance analysis.
- Traceability: Lot and location tracking across transfers is the basis for tracing materials into products, which is needed for recalls and for regulated industries.
- Project management: Assigning the activities of this category to specific systems, such as an MES or a specialized application, clarifies responsibilities and interfaces.
- Documentation: System documentation should state which activities of this category a system performs and which data it exchanges with other Level 3 systems and the ERP. Using the standard's activity names helps readers compare systems and specifications.
Inventory operations management vs. ERP inventory management
ERP systems manage stock at the business level (quantities, valuation, purchasing). Inventory operations management handles the physical movements within manufacturing in shorter time frames. The boundary between the two is defined per project.