Stock Outs – StockIQ Technologies

Summary

The Stock Outs screen shows the items you are out of stock on right now, and helps you work out how long you have been out, what it is costing you and what supply is on the way. It is the home of the Stock Outs alert.

It is accessible by clicking Inventory > Stockouts.

To see items you are projected to run out of, use the Projected Stockouts screen in the Purchase module. For help working out why a stock out happened, see How can I figure out why I stocked out on an item? and the Root Cause Analysis tab below.

What is a Stock Out?

An item is out of stock when its on hand (or its available quantity) is at or below its out-of-stock quantity, which is usually zero. Whether on hand or available is used is the Stockout Basis on the Inventory Limits screen, and it can differ by site or category.

Some items are expected to be out of stock, so your organization's Stock Out Policy decides which of them count. It is set once, on the Global Inventory Limits screen, and applies to this screen, Projected Stockouts, both alerts, the dashboards, report subscriptions and Edison. By default:

Items with zero safety stock- Included. A stocking item with no safety stock that runs short of demand is still a real stock out.
Items with non-stock order policies- Not included, because they are not supposed to carry stock.
Items that have been replaced- Not included, because they are tracked through their replacement item.
Items that have never been stocked- Not included. This only applies when the Never Stocked inventory position is turned on.

NOTE: These used to be "Include items..." checkboxes in each user's Display Options. They are now one setting for the whole organization, so every screen and alert counts the same stock outs.

Toolbar

Views- Save and load your filters, display options and grid layout.
Filters- Narrow the list by item, site, supplier, buyer, class, category and so on. The button is highlighted while a filter is active.
Display Options- See Display Options below.
Alerts- Opens the Stock Out Alert Settings. Shown only to users with the Edit Inventory Alert Settings permission.
Get Insights from Edison- Asks Edison to summarize the stock outs currently on screen. Shown when Edison is enabled.

Current Stock Outs Grid

In addition to the usual item, site, description, ABC and XYZ columns, the grid shows the following columns. The grid footer shows the count of rows and the total Lost $/Day. Use the clock button on the grid toolbar (Subscribe to this report...) to have this list emailed to you on a schedule.

Alert Priority- The priority of the stock out alert for the item, if there is one. High means the item has open demand and no open supply; Medium means it has open demand and open supply; Low means it has no open demand. If you use site groups, the priority is lowered one step when the item is not out of stock within its site group.
Alert State- Whether the alert is active, suspended or ignored.
Site Group- The site group the item-site belongs to, if any.
#1 Supplier Name- The item's primary supplier. Click it for supplier details.
Inventory Position- The item's current inventory position, usually Out of Stock.
Order Policy- The item's active order policy.
Safety Stock- The active safety stock, the minimum you are supposed to have in inventory at any time.
Buyer Name- The buyer assigned to the item.
Tgt Sl %- The item's active target service level. With a low target (90% or less) you will sometimes be out of a product; at higher targets a stock out probably deserves a closer look.
On Hand Qty- Your on hand. This can be above zero if your stockout basis is available quantity, or if the item has an out-of-stock quantity above zero.
Avail Qty- Your available quantity. Useful if your stockout basis is available quantity, or to see whether anyone wants the item right now.
Out Of Stock Qty- The item's out-of-stock quantity, usually zero.
Lead Time- The overall planning lead time, how long it might take to get more.
Last Date Available- The last date you had some available.
# Days Out- How many days you have been out since you last had it in stock. A long time out usually points to late deliveries from the supplier or unusually large demand.
# Times Out- How many times you have been out of it within the # Days to check for Stockouts in Display Options (90 by default). Frequent stock outs suggest the item's stocking policy needs a look.
On Order Qty- How much is on order to relieve the stock out.
# Open Orders- How many open supply orders there are for the item.
Next Order #- The supply order due to arrive soonest.
Next Supply Date- The expected dock date of that order, so roughly how soon the stock out might end.
Next Supply Quantity- How much is due on that date.
Days Until Next Supply- How many days away that is.
Projected In Stock Date- When you are projected to be back in stock, considering only current on hand, open demand (such as backorders) and firm open supply orders.
Historical Daily Usage- What you used per day before you ran out, so roughly how many sales you are losing.
Lost $/Day- Historical daily usage times the item's standard price, your lost revenue per day.
Open Demand Qty- How much firm open demand (customer orders and so on) is waiting on inventory. Compare it with On Order Qty to check there is enough supply coming.
Open Demand $- The same quantity in money, so you can tackle the biggest revenue first.
Date Suspended- When the alert was suspended, if it was.
Alert Note- Any note on the alert.

More columns can be added from the column chooser, including Current Cost, Standard Cost, Standard Price, Last Date In Stock, Site Group Inv. Pos., Site Group On Hand, Site Group Avl. Qty., Item-Site Notes, Item-Site ERP Notes, Last Ordered Date, Last Receipt Date, Supplier Item Code, Alert Message, Suspended By, React. Date, Country Of Origin, Date First Alerted, your item-site categories and custom fields.

TIP: The site group columns show whether an item that is out at one warehouse is still in stock elsewhere in its site group.

Right-click any row for a context menu. On an alert row it starts with Suspend Selected Alerts..., Ignore Selected Alerts... and Activate Selected Alerts. Every row also has Inventory Snapshot..., Forecast Detail..., Sawtooth Chart..., Stock Out History..., Item-Site Notes... and Open In....

Display Options

The dialog starts with a note showing what your organization's Stock Out Policy currently leaves out. Users who can edit it get a link that opens Global Inventory Limits in a new tab.

Chart Time Interval- The time bucket used by the Order Schedule and Sawtooth tabs.
Schedule Layout- The layout of the Order Schedule tab.
# Days to check for Stockouts- How far back to count stock outs for the # Times Out column. 90 is a good value.
Expedite Tgt Qty- The quantity the Expedite Recs tab tries to expedite up to.
Include All Sites in Expedite Check- Whether StockIQ also looks at unshipped supply orders at other sites when it looks for expedite possibilities.

Detail Tabs

Select a row to fill in the tabs at the bottom of the screen:

Order Schedule- The order schedule for the item's primary supplier.
Sawtooth- A chart of the item's projected schedule.
Open Supply Orders- Open supply for the item that may solve the stock out when it arrives, so a list of possible expedites.
Expedite Recs- StockIQ's supply order expedite recommendations for orders not yet shipped.
Substitutes- Possible substitutes, such as stock at another location, replacements, shorter lead time suppliers or alternate part numbers.
Alternates- Inventory status of the item's alternates, at alternate sites and as alternate part numbers.
Alerts- Other alerts for the item, such as late supply orders, open customer demand and forecast errors.
Root Cause Analysis- Runs a Stockout Root Cause Analysis for the item.
Customer Detail- The customers who bought the item in the last 12 months.