Activities for Students: Controlling Inventory: Real-World Mathematical Modeling
Thomas G. Edwards, S. Aslı Özgün‐Koca, Kenneth R. Chelst · Mathematics Teacher Learning and Teaching PK-12 · 2013
Amazon, Walmart, and other large-scale retailers owe their success partly to efficient inventory management. For such firms, holding too little inventory risks losing sales, whereas holding idle inventory wastes money. Therefore, profits hinge on the inventory level chosen. In this activity, students investigate a simplified inventory-control problem. Within this context, students develop tables, graphs, and algebraic representations to reach a decision. We have successfully completed this activity with students in both first- and second-year algebra.