6. CONCLUSIONS
A vast literature related to inventory theory has been developed over the past
fifty years. However, many of the theoretical results achieved are not easily
applicable in business practice, given that most are based on premises that
are not verified in the corporate environment. With the aim of helping to fill
this gap, this study proposes a conceptual framework designed to support the
choice of the most adequate/appropriate inventory management model.
Based on different demand characteristics, the proposed conceptual
framework reveals that the premise that demand adheres to Normal
distribution is not always valid and that other probability distributions, such as
the Poisson and Gamma distributions, should be considered by managers. This
study also explored issues related to the management of stocks of low and
very low consumption items through the framework’s practical application in a
Brazilian agricultural and construction equipment company