Start with what you buy, how often you buy it, and what is actually on the shelf. Then account for how long replenishment takes and how much your usage changes. That gives you a useful starting point for minimum and maximum stock levels without picking an arbitrary number of cases for every item.
The right amount of copy paper may be very different from the right amount of restroom tissue. One may arrive quickly and move steadily. Another may serve a busy building, have limited storage, or take longer to replace. Each item deserves its own decision.
Pull enough invoice history to see several normal buying cycles. Record the exact product, quantity, unit of measure, order date and location. Include purchases from other suppliers if they cover the same need. Otherwise, part of your supply use will be missing.
Keep the units consistent. A case, a carton and an individual roll are different quantities. Check whether case sizes changed during the period. Note returns, unusually large buys and purchases for a one-time event.
Look at the spacing between orders as well as the amount ordered. Repeated purchases can suggest a pattern worth checking. A large order followed by a long gap might simply mean someone stocked up.
Purchases are a starting estimate of use. They do not tell you exactly what left the shelf. Some of that last order may still be there. Product may have moved to another building, been damaged, or replaced an item that was unavailable.
Count the usable stock you have now and start recording receipts and withdrawals, or repeat counts over time. That helps you test the estimate. A single count today cannot reconstruct what was consumed last month.
Ask the people using the products what changed. More employees, an additional shift, a school break or a different cleaning schedule can make an old purchasing pattern a poor guide to the next order.
For a simple reorder-point system, the minimum is your signal to act while enough stock remains to cover replenishment. Consider the time from ordering until the product is ready to use, how often someone checks the shelf, and a sensible allowance for variation. Waiting until the last case is open may leave too little time.
The maximum is the level you intend to refill toward. It should fit your consumption, storage space and purchasing cycle. There is little value in filling a closet with a slow-moving item while a fast-moving essential keeps running short.
Before placing the order, check usable stock and quantities already on order. Confirm when those incoming quantities will arrive rather than treating every open order as available. Decide who can approve buying above the normal maximum and when a substitute needs permission.
Write the working levels where the person ordering can find them. Review them after actual replenishment cycles. If you repeatedly hit the minimum too soon, find out whether usage, delivery time or the counting routine changed. If stock keeps accumulating, check the target and order quantity.
At a large enough account, having your supplier manage the routine counts and replenishment may be worthwhile. The economics have to work for both parties. The number of supply areas, travel and service time, recurring volume, and your own staff time all matter. A small closet with a few predictable items may be easy to manage internally.
Highbar’s vendor-managed inventory service is an option for customers with multiple buildings, supply closets or racks to keep stocked. We can talk through your setup and whether it makes sense. Agree on the products, stock limits, check frequency and ordering authority before turning over the routine.
You do not need a complicated system to begin. Bring the invoice history, count what you have, and work through the items that cause the most trouble first. The useful stock level is one you can explain and adjust as the business changes.
USAID | DELIVER Project, The Logistics Handbook, chapters 2–4. General inventory principles; the handbook’s health-commodity stock settings are not prescribed here.