ABSTRACT
Inventory, or stock – for the purposes of inventory planning and control – is the accumulation of material inputs and outputs in a transformation system. Inventory can be raw materials, partfinished or finished products. For example, a car manufacturer has an inventory of car components, machines, chemicals, etc. (inputs) as well as an inventory of half-finished cars waiting on assembly
lines for the next part of the transformation process (part-outputs) and finished cars waiting in car lots to be sold to dealers (outputs). The word is used in all contexts. In the micro or macro-economic context, you may hear that inventory levels are up. This refers to outputs and is usually a bad sign as it means goods are not being sold.
