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Inventory control decisions

Unit: Advanced Management Accounting

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August 2025

1 Questions
Question 2a
​ ​​Jaribio Ltd. operates a conventional stock control system based on re-order levels and economic order quantities (EOQ). The various control levels were set originally based on estimates which did not allow for any uncertainty and this has caused difficulties because in practice, lead times, demands and other factors vary. 

 As part of a review of the system typical stock item, part No. H24, has been studied in detail as follows:

Data for Part No. H 24 
Lead times
(Days)
Probabbility
15
0.2
20
0.5
25
0.3
Daily demand
 (Units)
Probability
5,000
0.4
7,000
0.6

Additional information: 
  1. It costs Sh.1,000 to place an order. 
  2. The holding cost is estimated at Sh.0.025 for storage plus 10% opportunity cost of capital. 
  3. Each unit is purchased at Sh.2. 
  4. The re-order level for this part is currently 150,000 units. 
  5. The company works for 360 days per year. 
  6. Assume that the demands would apply for the whole of the appropriate lead-time. 

Required: 
(i) Calculate the level of buffer stock implicit in a re-order level of 150,000 units. 

(ii) Calculate the probability of stock-outs. 

(iii) Calculate the expected annual stock-outs in units. 

(iv) Compute the stock-out costs per unit at which it would be worthwhile raising the re-order level to 175,000 units.  


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April 2025

1 Questions
Question 2a
​​Discuss FOUR salient features of just-in-time (JIT) inventory system.


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December 2024

1 Questions
Question 3a
​​Explain THREE reasons why firms hold inventory.


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August 2024

1 Questions
Question 3a
​ ​ ​​Rahisi Supermarket uses different ordering policies to acquire its inventory. Due to uncertainty of supply of product “X”, the management accountant is evaluating the optimal order size for this product to set for the coming year 2025. 

The relevant data on the ordering policy is provided as follows:

Order policy
Units of product “X” ordered 
Order twice monthly 
500 units per order 
Order monthly 
1,000 units per order 
Order quarterly
3,000 units per order 
Order semi-annually 
6,000 units per order 
Order annually 
12,000 units per order 

Additional information:
  1. It is ascertained that the purchase price per unit of product “X” is Sh.500 for deliveries up to 2,500 units. 
  2. A 5% discount is offered by the supplier of product “X” on the whole order where deliveries are 2,501 up to 5,000 units. 
  3. A 10% discount on total order for deliveries in excess of 5,000 units is guaranteed. 
  4. Each purchase order incurs fixed requisition costs of Sh.1,200 per order. 
  5. The carrying cost is Sh.20 per unit per year plus 12% opportunity cost of the purchase price. 
  6. The purchasing lead time is 3 weeks. Rahisi Supermarket is open 48 weeks per annum. Each year has 12 months. 

Required: 
(i) Economic order quantity (EOQ) for product “X”.

(ii) Advise the management of Rahisi Supermarket on the optimum order size of product “X”. 

(iii) The optimal reorder level of product “X”. 


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April 2024

1 Questions
Question 2b
​ ​​The Management Accountant of Lengo Ltd. has noted that the management and control of inventories has become very uncertain. He has contracted you to devise an inventory system that allows for uncertainties to be applied to the current stock item branded “Safi”. 

The following are the details of stock item “Safi”:

Daily demand (units) 
Probability
Lead time days 
Probability
3,000
0.2
20
0.4
5,000
0.5
25
0.6
6,000
0.3

Additional information: 
1. The daily demand applies for the whole lead-time. 
2. Inventory carrying cost is 12.5% of inventory value. 
3. The purchase cost and order cost are Sh.100 per unit and Sh.15,950 per order respectively.
4. The current re-order point is 120,000 units. 5. One year has 300 working days. 

Required: 
(i) Economic order quantity. 

(ii) The relevant inventory cost for the year. 

(iii) The current level of safety stock implicit in the current reorder period. 

(iv) The probability of stock out. 


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December 2023

1 Questions
Question 3a
​​Evaluate THREE advantages of using simulation analysis in inventory control.


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August 2023

1 Questions
Question 2a
​​Summarise FOUR limitations of the Just-In-Time (JIT) inventory system


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April 2023

1 Questions
Question 3b
​ ​ ​ ​​Rapsy Stores Ltd. is open 300 days each year. The store outsources and sells a single product branded “Sola”. There is variability in lead time of each new order placed with the manufacturer, which sometimes lead to stock outs. 

 The following data about Sola is available: 
1.
Annual demand is 15,000 pairs of Sola. 
2.
The cost price of Sola averages Sh.200 per pair.
3.
The fixed ordering cost of requisition is estimated to be Sh.80. 
4.
 For each pair of Sola, annual inventory holding opportunity cost of capital is 13.33% of its cost price. 
5.
The management has determined economic order quantity based on data given above which should be used as reorder quantity.
6.
 The initial inventory available is 180 pairs of Sola while the reorder level is set at 50 pairs of Sola.
7.
The out of stock costs amount to Sh.100 per pair of Sola units that are out of stock.
8.
The customer demand is unknown. However, the total usage of Sola over the four days lead time is expected to be as follows:
8.
Annual demand (Pairs of Sola)
Probability
Lead time (Days)
Probability
30
0.2
1
0.15
60
0.3
2
0.30
90
0.4
3
0.45 
120
0.1
4
0.10 
9.
The random numbers generated by the computer software are as follows: 
Annual demand: 
4
8
6
1
7
1
9
0
3
8
Lead time: 
28
10
56








Required: 
(i)
The economic order quantity (EOQ). 
(ii)
Simulate the inventory operation for a period of 10 days. 
(iii)
Using the information in (b) (ii) above, estimate the average daily stockholding costs. 
 


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December 2022

1 Questions
Question 4
​ ​ ​Huruma Ltd. is a client of ABX National Bank. The Managing Director of Huruma Ltd. visited the bank’s offices to seek for an additional line of credit. In the ensuing discussions, the bank credit officer noticed that Huruma Ltd. could save a substantial amount of money by improving on its inventory management. 
The credit officer invited the Management Accountant of the company for further consultation. From the conversation, it emerged that the company holds a substantial quantity of a particular raw material in its warehouse. The Management Accountant provided the following information on the raw material:
Invoice cost per unit 
Sh.1,200 
Shipping charges 
Sh.25 per unit plus Sh.140,000 per shipment 
Inventory insurance 
Sh.10 per unit per year 
Annual handling and inspection cost of the raw material: 
Warehouse utilities 
Warehouse rental
Sh.26 per unit plus Sh.150,000 per year 
Unloading costs for units received (paid to shipper) 
Sh.9,800 per month 
Receiving supervisor’s salary: 
Sh.115,000 per month
Processing invoices and other purchase documents
Sh.8 per unit 
Sh.176,000 per month 
Sh.1,860 per order. 

The company’s policy is to order 5,000 units each time and maintain a safety stock of 3,000 units. The annual demand for the raw material is 45,000 units. The lead time for an order is 10 working days. 
The Management Accountant has also indicated that if there is a stock-out, it would be necessary to obtain the raw material by a special courier service at an additional cost of Sh.81,000 per stock-out. 
The probabilities of a stock-out at various safety stock levels were given as follows: 
Safety stock (units) 
Probability for stock-out 
500
0.25 
1,000
0.08
1,500
0.02
2,000
0.01

Additional information: 
1. The company’s cost of capital is 10%. 
2. You are advised that there are 250 working days in a year. 
3. The raw material is ordered in multiples of 250 units. 
4. For analysis purposes, a stock-out probability of 0.02 would be reasonable for order cost determination in an optimal inventory policy. 

Required: 
(a) The annual cost of the company’s present inventory policy. 

(b) Recommend an optimal order quantity for the company based on the information provided. 

(c) Recommend an optimal safety stock level. 

(d) Advise the management of the firm on the savings to be realised from the optimal order quantity and optimal safety stock level in (b) and (c) above.

(e) The reorder level for the company. 


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August 2022

1 Questions
Question 4b
​ ​​Mwamba County water-treatment plant purchases 100 kgs of lime bags for use in the water treatment process. The number of bags used per day varies on the basis of water consumption. Examination of past records discloses the following data:

Usage during past re-order period 
Number of bags 
Number of times this quantity was used 
225
9
300
15  
375
20  
450
3
525
2
600
1

The economic order quantity (EOQ) has been established at 2,500 units with an average daily usage of 25 bags and a lead time of 15 days for its single product X. 

 Additional information: 
1. Stock-out cost is Sh.300 per bag. 
2. The optimum number of orders based on the EOQ model is 6 times per annum. 
3. The normal carrying cost is Sh.50 per bag. 

Required: 
Advise the management accountant of Mwamba County on the desired level of safety stock in order to minimise the total inventory cost. 


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April 2022

1 Questions
Question 2c
​​Explain three characteristics of the Just-in-Time (JIT) inventory system.


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Question 4
​ ​ ​Ornella distributors are specialists in the distribution of a detergent manufactured by SP Chemicals Ltd. The company buys the detergent from SP Chemicals Ltd. at Sh.160 per litre for distribution purposes. However, this has been a controversial issue and the management of the company has sought your expert advice on the following stock control policies:

(a)
There is a recommendation by the Managing Director (MD) that applying the economic order quantity (EOQ) model is the only optimal way of improving the stock holding policy. The company’s annual demand is estimated to be 432,000 litres which the MD assumes to be evenly distributed over 330 working days in a year. The cost of delivery is estimated to be Sh. 6,000 per order and the annual variable holding cost per litre at Sh. 2.4 plus 1% of the purchase price. The company’s policy is to order 20,000 litres each time and the lead time for an order is 3 working days.
(a)

Required:
(i)
Calculate the EOQ, frequency of ordering and any annual cost savings if the company abandons the present inventory policy for the EOQ model.
(ii)
The supplier has intimated that he will offer quantity discounts on purchases of quantities above 20,000 as follows:
(a)
(ii)
20,001 – 37,000 litres
Sh.150 per liter
37,001 litres and above
Sh.140 per litre
Advice the distributor on the most optimal inventory policy.
(b)
The company’s finance director (FD points out that demand within the ten days’ lead time has not been entirely even over the past year causing stock outs. In case of a stock-out, it would be necessary to obtain the detergent by a special courier service at an additional cost of Sh.10 per litre. In this regard, he has given the frequency of the lead time demand over the last year as follows:
(b)
Lead time demand per day (No. of litres)
Frequency
Probability
1,700
2
0.02
1,500
10
0.10
1,400
20
0.20
1,300
30
0.30
1,100
25
0.25
1,000
13
0.13
(b)

Required:
(i)
Assuming that the stock out cost is reliable and that the order quantity will be constant for all the orders in a year, calculate the safety stock level the company should maintain throughout.
(ii)
Assuming that stock out cost is unreliable but the management have established a service level of 90% that stock will always be available, calculate the optimal safety stock level.
NB: Ignore the supplier’s quantity discount offer. 

 


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December 2021

2 Questions
Question 4b
​ ​ ​​A wholesaler is worried about the uncertainty of demand and lead time of the following stock items:

1.
Stock item X
The weekly demand for the item is 200 units, with a normally distributed demand with a standard deviation of 30 units and a lead time of 16 weeks.
2.
Stock item Y
It has a daily demand of 50 units with a lead time that is normally distributed with a mean of 20 days and a standard deviation of 2 days. The re-order level of the stock item has been set at 1,100 units.
3.
Stock item Z
The item is ordered every 6 months. The lead time is 3 months and demand is normally distributed with a mean of 1,000 units per month and a standard deviation of 80 units. The cost of stock-out is Sh.80 and the cost of holding one unit of buffer stock is Sh.20 per annum.

Required:
(i)
The re-order level of stock item X that would restrict the probability of a stock out at 5% during a single re-order period.
(ii)
The probability of a stock out of item Y during a single re-order period.
(iii)
The total annual cost of holding safety stock and stock out cost if re-order level is set at 3,600 units.



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Question 4a
​​Discuss the following types of inventory models:

(i) Deterministic models.

(ii) Stochastic models.


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May 2021

1 Questions
Question 2b
​ ​ ​ ​ ​​A company has determined that the Economic Order Quantity for its only raw material is 2,000 units every 30 days. The company knows with certainty that a four-day lead time is required for ordering. 

The following is the probability distribution of estimated usage of raw materials for the month of September 2020:

Usage in units
1,800
1,900
2,000
2,100
2,200
2,300
2,400
2,500
Probability
0.06
0.14
0.30
0.16
0.13
0.10
0.07
0.04

Stock outs will cost the company Sh.10 per unit and monthly holding cost is Sh.10 per unit. 

Required: 
(i) The optimal safety stock. 

(ii) The probability of being out of stock.


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November 2020

1 Questions
Question 4a
​​Sawasawa Ltd. manufactures 3 units of product "Zed" per day. The sale of this product depends upon demand which has the following distribution:

Sales (units)
Probability
270
280
290
300
310
320
0.10
0.15
0.20
0.35
0.15
0.05

Additional information:
1. The production cost and the sales price of each unit are Sh.4,000 and Sh.5,000 respectively.

2. Any unsold unit is to be disposed of at a loss of Sh. 1,500 per unit.

3. There is a penalty of Sh.500 per unit if the demand is not met.

4. The following random numbers are given:

10,99, 65, 99, 95 01, 79, 11, 16 and 20.

Required:
Estimate the total profit or loss for Sawasawa Ltd. for the next 10 days.


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November 2019

1 Questions
Question 2b
​​Kiawara Ltd. maintains a perpetual inventory system. The Economic Order Quantity (EOQ) model has established an economic order quantity of 3,000 units with an average daily usage of 100 units and a lead-time of 20 days for its single input product branded "Zed". The following information relates to the usage of product Zed during the re-order period:

Usage during the
re-order period (units)
Number of times the
quantity is used

1,800
1,900
2,000
2,100
2,200
2,300
34
40
90
20
10
 6

Additional information: 
1. Stock-out cost amount to Sh.400 per unit. 

2. The optimum number of orders based on the EOQ model is 5 times per annum. 

3. The annual carrying cost is Sh.80 per unit. 

Required: 
(i) Advise the management of Kiawara Ltd. on the amount of safety stock to be maintained. 

(ii) Determine the probability of a stock-out.


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November 2018

1 Questions
Question 3b
​​Vitabu Ltd. stocks books for sale. The company is concerned about high inventory cost and is therefore considering reviewing its current inventory management system.

Additional information:
1
Daily demand is probabilistic and follows the following distribution:
Demand (Units)
Probability
10
14
18
22
0.22
0.30
0.40
0.08
2
Lead time is also probabilistic and follows the following distribution:
Lead time (days)
Probability
2
3
4
5
0.1
0.3
0.2
0.4
3
Ordering cost is Sh.1,000 per order.
4
Holding cost is Sh.50 per day while stock out cost is Sh.200 per unit.
5
The policy of the company is to order 55 books whenever stocks fall below 15 books.
6
The opening inventory on the first day was 55 books.
7
The following random numbers are provided:

94562406423947955223705699163168744270003

Required: 
(i) A simulation of the company's inventory balances for a period of 10 days. 

(ii) The average daily inventory cost.


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May 2018

1 Questions
Question 3c
​​Mambo Leo Limited buys and sells a single product branded "Zee". 

The demand and lead time of the product are uncertain.

The following probability distribution has been provided:

Demand (units)  
Probability
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
0.02
0.08
0.11
0.16
0.19
0.13
0.10
0.08
0.07
0.06
Lead time (days)
Probability
2
3
4
5
0.20
0.30
0.35
0.15

Additional information:
1
The ordering cost per order is Sh.80.
2
The holding cost per unit per day is estimated at Sh.2 while the unit shortage cost is Sh.20 per unit per day.
3
The re-order quantity is 40 units and the re-order level is 20 units with a beginning inventory balance of 30 units

Required: 
Using simulation of the above problem for 10 days, determine the average daily cost using the following random numbers: 
Demand
68
13
09
20
73
07
92
99
93
18
Lead time
30
22
17
13
08
39
32
24
12
34


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November 2017

1 Questions
Question 5b
​​Trans Ltd. supplies a product branded "BBG". Although the annual demand for BBG is high, it varies considerably. 

The demand during lead time and the associated probabilities are as follows:

Demand during lead time
Probability
600
650
700
750
800
850
900
950
1,000
1,050
1,100
0.25
0.23
0.12
0.10
0.08
0.05
0.05
0.04
0.03
0.03
0.02

Additional information:
1
Trans Ltd. places 5 orders annually.
2
The ordering cost per order amounts to Sh.6,000.
3
The carrying cost amounts to Sh.1,000 per unit.
4
The estimated stock-out cost is Sh.5,000 per unit.
5
The re-order point is 850 units.
6
The lead time is 12 working days.

Required 
(i) Advise the management of Trans Ltd. on the amount of safety stock to be maintained. 

(ii) Determine the probability of stock-out.
 


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May 2017

2 Questions
Question 4a
​​A pizza vendor buys pieces of pizza every morning at Sh.450 each by placing an order one day in advance and sells them at Sh.700 each. 

Unsold pizza could be sold the following day at Sh.200 per piece and thereafter if still unsold the pizza is treated as waste. 

The pattern of demand of the pizza is given below: 

Fresh pizza:
Daily sale 
100
101
102
103
104
105
106
107
108
109
110
Probability
0.01
0.03
0.04
0.07
0.09
0.11
0.15
0.21
0.18
0.09
0.02

One day old pizza:
Daily sale
0
1
2
3
Probability
0.70
0.20
0.08
0.02

Additional information:
1
The vendor adopts the rule that, if there is no stock of pizza at the end of the previous day, an order of 110 pieces is placed, otherwise an order of 100 or 105 pieces is placed whichever is nearest to the actual fresh pizza sale on the previous day.
2
Use the following set of random numbers:
Fresh pizza
37
73
14
17
24
35
29
37
33
68
One day old pizza
17
28
69
38
50
57
82
44
89
60

Required: 
Starting with zero stock and a pending order of 105 pieces of pizza, simulate the transactions for 10 days and determine the vendor's profit or loss. 


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Question 4b
​​Vesto Ltd. intends to launch a new product into the market. The management of the company is uncertain of some variables namely; selling price, variable cost and the annual sales volume of the product. 

The following information relates to the possible values of the above variables and their associated probabilities:

Selling price per unit
Sh.
Probability
Variable cost per unit 
Sh.
Probability
Sales volume
(Units)
Probability
700
875
900
0.20
0.50
0.30
350
550
600
0.10
0.50
0.40
20,000
30,000
40,000
0.20
0.40
0.40

Additional information: 
1. The sales volume is the estimated annual sales. 

2. The uncertain variables are independent of one another.

Required: 
Simulate the scenario above to determine the average annual contribution of the product. 

Use the following random numbers: 80, 60, 43, 63, 21, 40, 36, 05, 69, 16, 73, 86, 28, 31, 61, 57, 39, 96, 49, 77, 26, 95, 82, 72. 


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November 2016

1 Questions
Question 2a
​​SL Ltd. manufactures and stocks component Q which is used as an input material in another department within the organisation. The past data on component Q is as follows:

  • Average demand per day is 130 units. 
  • Average production lead time is 5 days.
The frequency distribution of actual demand during lead time is given below:

Actual demand (units)
Frequency
300-399
400-499
500-599
600-699
700-799
800-899
900-999
0
16
20
25
14
8
3

The company targets an 85% service level during lead time. 

Required: 
(i) The re-order level. 
(ii) The safety stock level.


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May 2016

1 Questions
Question 3b
​ ​​James Makali prides himself as the largest sausage supplier in the city. Small, freshly baked sausages are the speciality of his shop. He has sought help in determining the number of sausages he should make each day so as to maximise his long run profitability. 

From an analysis of past demand, he estimates the demand for sausages as follows:

Demand (packets)
Probability of demand
1,800
0.05
2,000
0.10
2,200
0.20
2,400
0.30
2,600
0.20
2,800
0.10
3,000
0.05

Additional information: 
1. The selling price per packet amounts to Sh.90. 
2. The cost per packet which includes handling and transportation amounts to Sh.65. 
3. Sausages that are not sold at the end of the day are sold as day-old merchandise the following day at Sh.30 per packet. 

Required: 
Using continuous analysis of probability distribution of demand, advise on the optimal production quantity (in packets) for the sausages.


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