Inventory Management Practices and Operations Performance of Plastics and Rubber Manufacturers in Kenya

Abstract

The main objective of the study was to establish the effect of Inventory Management Practices on the performance of plastics and rubber manufacturers in Kenya. The specific objectives were to establish the extent to which plastics and rubber manufacturers in Kenya have implemented Inventory Management Practices and find the relationship between of Inventory Management Practices on the operations performance of plastics and rubber Manufacturers in Kenya. The study population was the 70 plastics and rubber manufacturers in Kenya registered with the Kenya Association of Manufacturers from which data was collected using a structured questionnaire. This study employed two research assistants who delivered the questionnaires and picked them up at a later agreed time (Drop and Pick Later method) to ensure that as much data as possible is collected for the study. The collected data was then verified, checked for correctness and fed into a statistical software which analyzed the data using descriptive and inferential statistics. The findings show that there is a high implementation rate of inventory management practices with 85% of the firms in the industry having adopted a modern inventory management model. The Economic Order Quantity (EOQ) model is the most widely applied model in the plastics and rubber value chain because it’s an effective, simple and easy to apply inventory management model. The study concluded that the implementation of inventory management practices had a positive effect on the internal efficiency, the timeliness and flexibility of organizations that adopted them. However, these practices did little to improve the quality of service rendered to the customer by the organizations. This study therefore recommends that firms strive to improve the quality of service rendered to their customers through sound customer care and customer satisfaction management strategies aimed at improving the customer experience in the plastics and rubber industry in Kenya.