Grzegorz Zimon

Inventory management costs are often high and it is necessary to introduce appropriate methods that cause their optimization. For this purpose, various types of methods supporting logistic processes are introduced. Joint activities within group purchasing organizations are also popular. Companies gain a possibility to reduce costs, in addition, when enterprises introduce appropriate quality management systems, the process of cost optimization and an improvement of inventory management efficiency should be even more visible. The purpose of this article is to analyze the impact of standardized quality management systems on inventory management. The research was conducted on a group of 68 enterprises operating in commercial group purchasing organizations. The enterprises were divided into two groups: into the companies using quality management systems and into those that do not use such systems. The analysis showed that the most frequently standardized quality management systems were used by large enterprises and the results of inventory management efficiency were at a similar level as compared to small units that do not apply quality management systems. The analysis based on selected financial indicators allows concluding that the introduction of quality management systems improves the efficiency of inventory management. The introduction of such systems allowed large enterprises to organize their warehouse management and reduce stocking reserves, which positively influenced the costs of managing them. The research period covers the years 2015–2017.

Growing competition in the market forces primarily small and medium enterprises (SMEs) to implement certain mechanisms that will allow them to build an advantage over the competition. Most often, SMEs try to work together as part of multi-stakeholder organizations and organize themselves into group purchasing organizations (GPOs) with the central warehouse to improve the financial state of enterprises. The article aims to assess and analyze the impact of the central warehouse on the performance of Polish SMEs operating in group purchasing organizations. The research group comprised of 172 trading enterprises operating in Polish group purchasing organizations. The investigated companies were divided into two groups. In the first group, there were companies operating within GPOs, which have a central warehouse. In the second group, there were companies in which central unit does not have a central warehouse. The analysis and research showed that the central warehouse has a positive impact on financial security of small and medium enterprises operating in group purchasing organizations. The use of central warehouse optimizes the most costly current assets component – inventories. This is confirmed by better results of inventory turnover ratios in days, reduced share of inventories in the structure of current assets, and optimization of financial liquidity ratios.