Settings in this screen control how StockIQ calculates your service levels, and also contains settings for the Site-Level Service Level Optimization, if you wish that to run as well
General Service Level Calculations
Measurement Interval
When reporting on your service level performance in the Serice Level Screen, the values we report are aggregated over a certain time period so that they are more meaningful. For example, your service level from only yesterday is not a very interesting number.
Normally, this is set to a 30 day interval, so you can see your last 30 days service level performance, and the values charted show your previous 30-day intervals as well. You can update this to a time interval that is most applicable for your business.
Calculation Method
The most important of these is the calculation method. The default option is to calculate service level by comparing shipments (invoices) made against actual orders. This is the most accurate method, and enables us to calculate your end-customer service level, in addition to Item-Site, Site, and Hierarchy level service levels.
The fallback method is to calculate by estimating from your actual demand. Each day that it receives data, StockIQ records your on hand level on any given day. As time goes on, we can compare the demand you had on a given day to the on-hand quantity recorded at the beginning of that day, and from this information we can infer what orders you were and were not likely able to fill in a timely manner.
Include Non-Stock Items?
This option allows you to include your service level on non-stock items. Generally this is something you would not do since you've specifically chosen NOT to have these items in stock, therefore your service level on these will be quite low.
Site-Level Service Level Optimization
This section of the screen contains your Service Level Optimization Options for running the ongoing optimization, as well as a few additional controls and limits, listed below:
- Optimization Frequency - Controls how often the optimization is run. Generally this should be done no more frequently than monthly, with Quarterly possibly a better choice.
- Optimization Min Target Service Level: As the optimization runs, it will raise and lower the service level of certain items according to the optimization strategy. Setting a minimum target service level places limits on how far StockIQ can adjust an item downwards, to make sure it doesn't end up with a zero safety stock on an item you would like to have in inventory. Something in the 70% range is probably a good ballpark here.
- Optimization Max Target Service Level: As the optimization runs, it will raise and lower the service level of certain items according to the optimization strategy. Setting a maximum target service level places limits on how far StockIQ can adjust an item upwards, to make sure it doesn't end up swamping other items with its stock suggestions. Generally this is taken care of as part of the increasing hockey-stick effect of additional service level, but setting some practical limits is useful. A limit a few percent higher than your "A" item upper limit is useful here.
- Configure Site Budgets - Leads to the Configure Service Level Optimization Budgets dialog.