Abstract

Inventory is perhaps the most researched topic of production and operation management since it immensely affects the lives of all and sundry. Inventory management systems (IMS) come in various forms and are evident in the various aspects of society: household, social and business inventory. This work provides an overview of manual and automated inventory management systems based on traditional and ultra-modern state-of-the-art technology. It investigates the usage of IMS and its associated technologies in some key sectors such as the aviation sector, warehouse industrial sector, telecommunication sector, health sector, automobile sector, and highway sector. Findings from the literature reveal that almost all industries have benefited from the use of inventory management systems most especially through savings in cost and time, but a lot still needs to be done in integrating two technologies for an optimum inventory management system.