Inventory Management Techniques and Customer Satisfaction in Selected Manufacturing Companies in Mogadishu -Somalia

ABSTRACT The study was to examine the effect of inventory management techniques on customer satisfaction in selected manufacturing companies in Mogadishu, Somalia. The study objectives were to assess the relationship between Just-in-Time techniques and customer satisfaction, to evaluate the relationship between Vender Managed Inventory techniques and customer satisfaction and finally to establish the relationship between material requirements planning and customer satisfaction in selected manufacturing companies in Mogadishu, Somalia, the study problem was customer satisfaction constraints in the manufacturing organizations. The data was collected from 179 respondents who were employees in selected manufacturing companies from Mogadishu Somalia. The study was conducted based on a descriptive research design based on quantitative data on descriptive statistics and simple and multiple regression analysis to determine the relationship between variables. The study results reveal that just in time alone had a 15.6% effect on the customer satisfaction of the manufacturing companies in Mogadishu, Somalia, The p value for the test was computed within an acceptable range since it was at .037. The second objective reveals that vendor managed inventory had a 5.6% effect on the customer satisfaction of the manufacturing companies, the P-value was 0.455 indicating a non-significant relationship while requirement planning alone has a 13.9% effect on the customer satisfaction of the manufacturing companies in Mogadishu, Somalia, the relationship was significant at 0.043. The study concluded that just in time inventory technique had a positive effect on customer satisfaction in the manufacturing organizations, the study conclude that just in time inventory technique can generate customer satisfaction if improved in the functionality of organizations. The study conclude that vendor managed inventory presented a low relationship on customer satisfaction, the study conclude that vendors could be managing the inventory in an improper form, there is need for a focus on the customer satisfaction in the organization. The study conclude on the third objective that materials requirement planning induce customer satisfaction, the focus was on limited planning for the material requirements had a low influence on the customer satisfaction in the manufacturing organizations. The study recommend that companies should put into consideration inventory management when planning for better profits in the coming years and should also minimize the cost of production as lowest as possible. There is need to highly embrace vendor managed inventory through long-term relationships with not only suppliers but customers as well should be adopted by the warehousing firms. This is by embracing the Vendor Managed Inventory xi (VMI) which will interchange the handling of inventory management from the warehousing firms to the suppliers thus improving the overall operational performance of the firm. In regard to materials requirement planning, there is need for adequate planning and ensuring that the raw materials are adequately available, the organizations should adopt ICT. Automation will help the warehousing firm in inventory management by setting inventory management levels and calculating the amount of inventory to hold and release therefore improving customer satisfaction.