Reorder List
Setting lead time, safety stock and cover days
Lead time and safety stock decide when to order; cover days decide how much. See examples of each, what the reorder list suggests, and how to choose cover days.
Three settings on each product determine your reorder suggestions. Two decide when to order; the third decides how much.
| Setting | What it means | It decides |
|---|---|---|
| Safety stock | The stock you never want to go below | When to order |
| Expected Lead Time | Days from placing an order to having the goods on the shelf | When to order |
| Reorder Cover Days | Days of use each order should bring in | How much to order |
Where to set them
- Open Catalog.
- Select View Products.
- Click the product.
- Select Product Page in the preview.
- Select Edit product or open the Reorder Point tab.
- Go to the Stock levels section if you selected Edit product, or select Edit parameters in the Reorder Point tab to open the form at that section.
- Set Expected Lead Time in days.
- Set Reorder Cover Days from 1 to 365. New products start at 30.
- Turn on Enable Auto Safety Stock Calculation.
- Set the Months of Safety Stock slider.
- Set the Calculation Period (Months) slider. This is the number of months your average use is taken from; 3 suits most products.
- Optionally, set a Manual Safety Stock Amount.
- Save.
Saving recalculates the figures straight away, or within a minute if a calculation has just run. New stock movements and order approvals are picked up within the hour. The product's Reorder Point tab shows how the reorder point is worked out. Without automatic calculation, a product's Suggested Qnt shows a dash.
When to order
Order when the stock you have left will last exactly until the delivery arrives, without touching your safety stock. That level is the reorder point:
Reorder point = safety stock + daily use × lead time
For example, you use 10 a day, you have 300 in stock, and your safety stock is 200.
| Lead time | Reorder point | When to order |
|---|---|---|
| 10 days | 200 + 10 × 10 = 300 | Today: you are already there |
| 6 days | 200 + 6 × 10 = 260 | In 4 days, when stock is down to 260 |
Either way, the delivery arrives just as your stock reaches 200, your safety stock.
How much to order
Cover days say how many days of use each order brings in:
Order quantity = cover days × daily use
In the same example, using 10 a day:
| Cover days | Each order | You order about |
|---|---|---|
| 7 | 70 | Every week |
| 30 | 300 | Once a month |
| 60 | 600 | Every two months |
With a 6-day lead time and 30 cover days, the cycle looks like this:
- Stock reaches 260, the reorder point: you order 300.
- In the 6 days the delivery takes, you use 60 and drop to 200, your safety stock.
- The 300 arrive: you are back at 500.
- About 24 days later you are at 260 again, and the next order goes out.
Cover days change how much you order and how often, never when.
What the reorder list suggests
When stock in hand plus stock already on order, less any units held for supplier claims, falls to the reorder point, StockBold suggests enough to bring it back up to the reorder point plus the cover days of use. If you are already below the reorder point, it adds the difference.
| In hand | On order | Suggested | Why |
|---|---|---|---|
| 300 | 0 | 0 | Above the reorder point of 260: not yet |
| 260 | 0 | 300 | At the reorder point: 30 days of use |
| 250 | 0 | 310 | 10 below it: 300 plus the 10 missing |
| 250 | 310 | 0 | The order on its way already covers it |
Choosing cover days
Pick the order rhythm that suits the product: 7 to order every week, 14 every other week, 30 once a month. Then adjust for these:
| Consider | Use more cover days if | Use fewer cover days if |
|---|---|---|
| Supplier minimum order | The minimum is more than a short cover buys. A minimum of 500 at 10 a day needs at least 50 cover days. | There is no minimum |
| Cost of each order | Shipping or handling per order is high | Delivery is cheap or free |
| Money and space | The item is cheap and small | The item is expensive or bulky |
| Shelf life | The goods keep | The goods spoil: stay well within the shelf life |
Don't copy the lead time into cover days. A supplier who delivers in 2 days doesn't mean ordering every 2 days, and an overseas supplier who takes 60 days doesn't mean ordering two months at once. With 30 cover days and a 60-day lead time, you have two orders on the way at a time, and StockBold counts both.
Safety stock
Turn on Enable Auto Safety Stock Calculation and StockBold calculates safety stock as average monthly use × Months of Safety Stock. If you also enter a Manual Safety Stock Amount, the higher of the two is used, so the manual amount works as a minimum.
More safety stock makes you order earlier, not more: it raises the reorder point, and each order is still the cover days of use.
Months of Safety Stock is at least 1, and new products start at 3: a large buffer for something you can get within days. Check it when you set a product up.
New products
Until a product has used stock in a full month, its daily use is 0, so lead time and cover days have no effect yet. Turn on automatic calculation and set a Manual Safety Stock Amount for the first weeks: with 50 set and 20 in hand, the suggestion is 30.
Importing products
The CSV import template has a column each for lead time, manual safety stock and cover days. Left empty, lead time and cover days are 30 and the safety stock is 0. Imported products start with automatic calculation off.
Related articles: Where the suggested quantity comes from, Stock alerts and safety quantities, Create a purchase order from the reorder list.