Conference Paper

DIGITAL TRACKING TOOLS ON INVENTORY MANAGEMENT (A STUDY OF NESTLE NIGERIA PLC., AGBARA)

This study investigated the effects of digital tracking on inventory management in Nigerian manufacturing industry using Nestle Nigeria Plc. as a study area. The objectives of this study were to determine the effect of real-time tracking, barcode scanning and radio frequency identification on inventory management. The study adopted descriptive research design. The population is the entire staff of the company under review. Simple random sampling technique was used to select the respondents from the study targeting all staff of Nestle Nigeria Plc. The sample size of 171 was derived from the population using Taro Yamane Statistical formula while 169 were valid for analyses. Questionnaire was structured using likerts scale (strongly agree, agree, disagree and strongly disagree). The data were tested using percentage method while the hypotheses were tested using simple regression, anova and coefficient analysis with the aid of statistical packages for social sciences (SPSS) version 27. The findings revealed that among the variables tested; real-time tracking and barcode scanning are significant with p-value of .000 and .000 respectively while economic status was insignificant with p-value of 0.533. The study concluded that digital tracking has significant effect on inventory management in Nigerian manufacturing industry. The researcher therefore recommended that Manufacturing companies, particularly Nestlé Nigeria Plc, should invest more in advanced real-time tracking technologies to enhance inventory management efficiency. In addition, regular staff training should be conducted to improve employees' competence in barcode scanning operations, leading to greater inventory accuracy, reduced inventory losses, and improved operational efficiency. Keywords: Inventory Management, Real-Time Tracking, Barcode Scanning, Radio Frequency Identification, Inventory Management.