Strategic Inventory Management in Plastic Manufacturing: A Delphi-AHP Sustainability Approach

Teams in the modern supply chain environment face important challenges, including increasingly intense competition at the global level and the growing environmental issues. The urgency to manage inventory in a way that is both sustainable to the planet and business-competitive has become absolute, especially to companies operating in emerging economies. The paper is an applied and scholarly research on the development of supply chain inventory management. The method used combines the testimonies of experts with powerful decision-making tools and therefore, focuses on the variables, which have the most significant implications. At the beginning of our program, we gain the experiences of the experienced practitioners to define the most significant factors underlying the wise administration of the inventory. We, therefore, maintain a simplified prioritization model to rank these key determinants. We have found that the so-called environmentally sustainable practices: waste minimization and optimal use of resources have a significant impact on the development of intelligent inventory strategies. Such an approach will help supply-chain teams better find ways to address complicated issues even when there is uncertainty or a difference of opinions. The essence of this is that the follow-up composite approach allows to have a smoother course of operation and has both resource conservation and sustainability goal. Therefore, organizations achieve the double payoff of improved business and conservation of the environment, thus strengthened as competitive players in the market. In synthesis, the presented practical framework empowers supply-chain professionals to implement more thoughtful ecologically friendly decisions- thus pushing efficiency to a new level, reducing environmental strictness and promoting a strong, sustainable competitive advantage. Keywords: Sustainable inventory management; supply chain management; plastic industry; economic viability; environmental impact; social responsibility; technological integration; operational efficiency.