Where the suggested quantity comes from

Open Inventory, then Reorder List. Each product shows a Stock Level bar, with the quantity in hand on the left and safety stock on the right, along with a Suggested Qnt and a Qnt to reorder box.

Suggested Qnt is the number of units the system suggests you order now. You can enter your own figure in Qnt to reorder; the purchase order starts from that figure instead of the suggestion.

How the suggestion is calculated

The system adds available stock—stock in hand less units held for supplier claims—to stock already on order. It then compares the total with the product's reorder point.

If the total is above the reorder point, the suggestion is zero. If it is at or below the reorder point, the suggestion brings the total up to the reorder point plus the product's cover days of average use. The result is always rounded up to a whole unit.

The reorder point is safety stock plus the stock expected to be used while waiting for delivery. The latter is average daily consumption multiplied by the expected lead time in days. The safety stock used is the higher of the calculated safety stock and Manual Safety Stock Amount.

For example, a product uses 300 units a month, or 10 a day. Its lead time is 14 days, it holds one month of safety stock, and it has the default 30 cover days. Its reorder point is 300 + 14 × 10 = 440.

With 430 in hand and nothing on order, the suggestion is 440 + 300 − 430 = 310. Once an order for those 310 is approved, the product counts 740 including the order. The suggestion drops to zero and stays there until stock falls back to the reorder point.

Which orders count as stock on order?

Stock on order means purchase orders with the status Approved that have not been fully received. For each line, the quantity still to come is the quantity ordered minus the quantity received against that line so far, and never less than zero.

Draft, pending and not-approved orders are not counted. Where a PO Arrivals figure appears beside a product's suggestion, it counts the same approved orders.

An order is counted only once it is approved. Check for orders in progress before ordering the same product: a colleague's draft or order waiting for approval does not affect the suggestion.

How consumption and safety stock are calculated

Average daily consumption is average monthly consumption divided by 30. Average monthly consumption is the total consumed over the calculation period divided by the number of months in that period. Calculated safety stock is that same monthly average multiplied by your months of safety stock, rounded to whole units.

Consumption includes stock-out movements, components used up by an assembly, and adjustments that reduce stock. Nothing else counts. For example, transfers between warehouses and defective units that leave stock against a supplier claim are not treated as consumption, so they do not push the suggestion up.

With automatic calculation on, the safety stock shown on the Stock Level bar and in the Safety Qty column is the higher of the calculated figure and Manual Safety Stock Amount. A product with little history can still show safety stock because it has fallen back to your manual amount. The reorder point, reorder date and suggestion use that same higher figure.

If Enable Auto Safety Stock Calculation is off, nothing is calculated for the product and its Suggested Qnt shows a dash. Its safety stock is simply your manual amount. Turn the setting on to get a suggestion.

When a product has no safety stock figure yet, the right-hand side of the Stock Level bar shows 1. This fills a gap so the bar has something to draw against; it is not a level you set.

Set the product's reorder parameters

The settings that drive the suggestion belong to the product, not to the list.

1. Open the product's page.
2. Select Edit product.
3. Go to the Stock levels section.
4. Set Expected Lead Time in days. A new product starts at 30. If you clear it, it is saved as 0, and the reorder point covers only safety stock.
5. Set Manual Safety Stock Amount if you want a floor under safety stock. With automatic calculation on, the higher of this amount and the calculated figure is used for the reorder point and suggestion.
6. Set Reorder Cover Days to the days of use you want each order to cover beyond the reorder point. It takes a whole number from 1 to 365, and a new product starts at 30. Longer cover means larger, less frequent orders.
7. Turn Enable Auto Safety Stock Calculation on to have consumption history drive the figures. The two sliders below it appear only when it is on.
8. Set Months of Safety Stock to the months of average use to hold as a buffer. The slider runs from 1 to 12 months, and a new product starts at 3.
9. Set Calculation Period (Months) to how far back to take the average. The slider runs from 1 to 12 months, and a new product starts at 3.
10. Leave Round safety stock result as you find it if you are only interested in the order quantity. It controls whether average monthly usage is stored as a whole number; it does not change the suggested quantity.

Alternatively, on the product's Reorder Point tab, Edit parameters opens the form straight at the Stock levels section.

When figures are updated

Saving a change to a product's reorder settings recalculates its figures straight away, or within a minute if a calculation has just run. New stock movements and order approvals are picked up by the regular calculation, which runs about once an hour.

The quantity in hand on the Stock Level bar is read live. Straight after a large stock-out, the two sides of the row can disagree until the next calculation run.

Why a suggestion may be low or zero

An approved order may already cover the need. The reorder date is worked out from available stock alone—stock in hand less units held for supplier claims—so a product can reach its reorder date and still suggest zero because the order on its way is enough.

The current month is excluded from the average because it is not finished. A product that only started moving this month therefore shows no consumption yet. The total is also divided by the whole calculation period, not just the months with movement. For example, consumption concentrated in one month out of three is averaged across all three months.

A product with no consumption history has no daily use, so it gets no reorder date. With automatic calculation on, if its stock in hand plus stock on order is at or below Manual Safety Stock Amount, the suggestion still fills the gap up to that amount.

Warehouses and supplier claims

The quantity in hand used here is the total across all your warehouses, less units held for supplier claims. Material you reported as defective and kept on the shelf for the supplier is not stock you can use, so it never holds back a suggestion, reorder date or low-stock alert. The end of stock date is worked out from the same available figure.

The suggestion is per product, not per warehouse. It does not tell you if stock is in the wrong warehouse.

Demand and inventory forecasts

The Demand Forecast panel on the product's Reorder Point tab works out a demand trend and seasonal pattern. Neither is applied to the suggested quantity, reorder date or stock end date; those use the flat average described above.

The Inventory Forecast chart shows projected stock at the end of each month, starting from today, with purchase orders due to arrive and markers for when the product should be reordered and when it runs out. It assumes the same usage every month.

When a product has a seasonal pattern, tick Include seasonality to see the months it is used more or less. This changes the chart only, not the key dates or suggestion. If you know a season is coming, raise the order yourself or give the product more cover days for that period.

Check the figures behind a suggestion

Open the product's page and its Reorder Point tab. Four figures appear at the top: Reorder By, Stock End Date, Reorder Point and Suggested Order. Suggested Order also shows the product's cover days, for example 30d cover. With automatic calculation off, the fourth figure is the safety stock set by hand instead.

Below them, How the reorder point is worked out shows the sum as Safety Stock + Lead Time Consumption = Reorder Point. Each part has a help button and a line showing its working, such as 300 a month × 1 month or 14 days × 10 a day. The parameters used are listed underneath. This can help you identify which setting is producing a surprising result.

A product excluded from inventory shows Not tracked in inventory on that tab instead.

To compare many products, open Inventory, then View Inventory, and turn on the Suggested Qty and Last Calculation columns. Both are hidden until you choose them. Last Calculation shows how fresh the figures are.

Create a purchase order from the reorder list

Each supplier group on the reorder list has a Create PO button. Each line of the new order starts from the item's Qnt to reorder if you filled it in; otherwise, it takes the suggested quantity.

A dash starts the line at 1. A zero stays 0 and shows a warning, so the order cannot be saved until you enter a quantity or remove the line. Read the quantities before saving the order.