Planning stock
Reorder points and days of cover
Work through demand, lead time, safety days, incoming orders, and pack rounding.
On this page
Start with recent demand
Suppose your recorded demand was 60 units over 30 days. That is two units per day. With 18 units on hand, the simple days-of-cover estimate is 18 ÷ 2 = 9 days.
Inventory uses up to 30 days of available history and waits for at least seven days of log reach. This estimate assumes recent demand continues; it does not predict an upcoming promotion or a supplier delay.
Cover the replenishment window
Assume the supplier takes five days and you allow three safety days. Eight days at two units per day calls for 16 units. If the product is purchased in packs of six, rounding up gives a suggested threshold of 18 units.
In Inventory you review the suggestion before accepting it. A threshold is the point where attention is needed, not automatically the quantity to buy.
Calculate the remaining order need
Using the default target of twice that threshold gives a target of 36 units. If 12 units remain and six are already on order, the additional need is 36 − 12 − 6 = 18 units, or three packs of six.
A fixed reorder quantity or a coverage-days target changes this calculation. Review incoming orders and pack size before placing the order. Stale orders can make stock look covered when a delivery is no longer coming.