Appendix and References

The difficulty with the data extracted from MYFOOD’s ERP system was that the system does not record any absolute values of the stock level. This means that it is not possible to determine ex post the quantity of goods there were for a certain product on a specific day. In addition, MYFOOD interviewees stressed the inaccuracy of the inventory records. This statement is supported by physical audits (see Figure 49) and by other researchers (e.g.

Broekmeulen, van Donselaar et al. 2005

). The only available data was relative, i.e. showing how many units were delivered and how many units left the store on a certain day. With this data it is possible to determine the stock level curve, but without knowing at which height on the y-axis the curve is (see Figure 57).