Top 5 Books to Enhance Your Inventory Management in 2023

Published 28 April 2016 | Updated 8 October 2023 | Anastasia Kholod

Inventory management is virtually the most important and difficult part of every retail business. And when it comes to retail giants like Walmart, Auchan, or Walgreens, managing them effectively turns out to be a genuine inventory feat. Probably the greatest role in their commercial success plays careful attention to the inventory aspect. They are all known to use cutting-edge technologies and constantly innovate their inventory management strategies. So it is reasonable to follow their example if you plan to expand the store or just want to bring more order to the inventory and cut costs. We have prepared a list of books that provide a comprehensive overview of inventory management, ideas for successful inventory strategies and methods based on numerous efficacious experiences of companies and people working in this area. These books will be useful for inventory professionals, store owners, and even software engineers working on the enhancement of an inventory system’s performance.

#1 Inventory Best Practices by Steven M. Bragg

This book will be especially interesting and helpful for large warehouses owners as it describes how to spend less time and efforts on managing the warehouse and boost its efficiency. It also examines inventory picking, storage, transactions and shows how to maximize the efficiency of inventory tracking systems.

#2 Inventory Accuracy: People, Processes, & Technology by David J. Piasecki

The book is mainly focused on inventory control, measuring accuracy, accounting and approaches for managing the counting. It explains how to decrease errors to a minimum and motivate workers. The author points out how powerful computer tools and systems can be in collaboration with human intelligent guidance.

#3 Inventory Management Explained: A focus on Forecasting, Lot Sizing, Safety Stock, and Ordering Systems by David J. Piasecki

The author gives a detailed overview of all aspects of inventory management, choosing simple and familiar words and avoiding unnecessary acronyms and terminology. He gets deeper into calculations for forecasting, lot sizing, and safety stock in order to avoid incomplete calculations and incorrect inputs. The serious theory and facts are spiced with humour. That’s why the book is readable even for beginners in warehouse management.

#4 Warehouse Management: A Complete Guide to Improving Efficiency and Minimizing Costs in the Modern Warehouse (2nd Edition) by Gwynne Richards

The title of the book speaks for itself. It describes both the basic principles of warehousing and new approaches to improving warehouse performance, eliminating unnecessary expenses and efforts from the management process. The book explains how much efficient warehouse management contributes to the success of supply chain.

#5 Rightsizing Inventory by Joseph L. Aiello

This book is written from the viewpoint of a person who has a 45-year experience in the inventory sphere. He covers every aspect of inventory and adds clear examples. The author points out how important interdependencies and interactions are, and describes how to make the interaction between segments more efficient. He not only gives an overview of key points but also offers valuable TIPS on how to optimize the inventory system on all levels. This list encompasses most useful and comprehensive books. We tried to describe general characteristics and point out specialities of every book so that it will be easier for you to decide on what source to choose to deep and broaden your inventory knowledge. P.S.: There is another useful source for you. Here you can discover an innovative way to improve your inventory management through integration.