Which practice reduces inventory variety?

• A. Avoid mirror image parts
• B. Use mirror image parts
• C. Create many mirrored variants
• D. Ignore orientation

Answer: (A)

Reducing inventory variety comes from limiting the number of distinct part configurations you must stock. Mirror-image parts create separate SKUs because left- and right-handed versions often can’t substitute for each other in assemblies. By avoiding mirror-image parts, you standardize on a single orientation or design, so you only need one set of parts to cover multiple uses, cutting the total variety you need to carry.

Using mirror-image parts would increase variety since you’d have to stock both left and right versions. Creating many mirrored variants would raise the variety even more. Ignoring orientation doesn’t reduce variety and can lead to mismatches or assembly issues, so it doesn’t help achieve a leaner inventory.