For example , while inventory manager would like to have minimum level of inventory to show of his performance , Purchasing manager would like to place bulk orders in order to lessen his work load and show discounts as reductions. Both of these acts may be little contradictory from the organisational point of view. That is if some of the functions were to be handled separately, a conflict of interests may occur.

Therefore, the conflicting objectives need to be balanced and intertwined from a total organisational viewpoint so as to achieve optimum results for the organisation as a whole.

In an integrated set up, one materials manager (usually the chief) is responsible for all such inter related functions and he is in a position to exercise control and coordinate all the activities with a view to ensure proper balance of the conflicting objectives of the individual functions. Integration also attains the synergetic advantage in terms of eliminating water tight compartments that set in in a disjointed environment of working. The resulting benefits can be seen in terms of rapid transfer of data, through effective and informal communication channels. This is crucial as the materials management function involves handling vast amount of data. Therefore, integrating the various functions  identify themselves

to a common materials management department which in turn results in greater coordination and better control.

Better accountability ,better coordination, better performance, better adaptability to EDP are some of the tangible advantages of the Integrated Materials Management besides a perceptible team spirit , morale and cooperation are the intangible gains. Training and development of staff and executive through rotation of people is another great advantage because of a bigger canvas produced by integration of Materials function.