Safety stocks are used in companies as buffers to compensate for various uncertainties along the supply chain, such as delivery delays and fluctuations in demand and thus ensure that the specified service level is met. Since high inventory levels lead to significant costs and inventory management simultaneously aims to reduce costs in addition to ensure the required delivery capability, the optimal dimensioning of safety stock is becoming increasingly important. In this thesis, the basics of inventory management and safety stock calculation are discussed and the current developments as well as the state of the art regarding the use of methodologies for safety stock calculation and optimization in practice are analyzed with the help of a systematic literature research. Additionally, a case study is conducted at MAGNA STEYR Fahrzeugtechnik GmbH & Co KG in this thesis. This case study entails an evaluation of the presently employed method for calculating safety stocks and the development of an optimized safety stock calculation.