Research two (2) manufacturing or two (2) service companies that manage inventory and complete this assignment.

Write a five to seven (5-7) page paper in which you:

1. Determine the types of inventories these companies currently manage and describe their essential inventory characteristics.
2. Analyze how each of their goods and service design concepts are integrated.
3. Evaluate the role their inventory plays in the company’s performance, operational efficiency, and customer satisfaction.
4. Compare and contrast the four (4) different types of layouts found with each company; explain the importance of the layouts to the company’s manufacturing or service operations.
5. Determine at least two (2) metrics to evaluate supply chain performance of the companies; suggest improvements to the design and operations of their supply chains based on those metrics.
6. Suggest ways to improve the inventory management for each of the companies without affecting operations and the customer benefit package. Provide a rationale to support the suggestion.
7. Use at least three (3) quality resources in this assignment. Note: Wikipedia and similar Websites do not qualify as quality resources.

Your assignment must follow these formatting requirements:

• This course requires use of (SWS). The format may be different than other Strayer University courses. Please take a moment to review the SWS documentation for details (more information and an example is included in the Strayer Writing Standards left menu link).
• Include a cover page containing the title of the assignment, the student’s name, the professor’s name, the course title, and the date. The cover page and the reference page are not included in the required assignment page length.