MATERIAL MANAGEMENT
Materials management, particularly in a manufacturing firm is utmost importance and covers the areas such as procurement, storage, maintenance and supply of materials and stores. This entails keeping the materials in good condition and sufficient quantity so that the production schedule continues smoothly. The inventory of any item is required to be maintained at an optimum level that is neither excessive nor inadequate. The financial management and materials management interact with each other and the financial management has a specific role to play. It is no denying the fact that generally the materials constitute a substantial portion of the cost of production which can be controlled and possibly can be reduced also by keeping a strict vigil on the financial implications of material movement in the firm. The finance manager and the material manager may come together while determining the economic order quantity, safety level, storing place requirements, stores personnel requirements etc. the cost aspects of all the decisions are to be evaluated against the expected savings.