Calculators for {niche}
Four tools, each showing its formula and its assumptions. Nothing you enter is sent anywhere.
Reorder Point & Safety Stock
Work out when to reorder and how much safety stock to hold, using the max-demand method on your own figures.
Assumptions this uses
- Uses the max-demand method: safety stock is sized for the worst peak demand and peak lead time you've actually observed, not a statistical service-level target.
- Demand and lead time are treated as independent inputs you supply from your own history.
- The reorder point is a trigger quantity, not a fixed order quantity — how much to order each time is a separate decision.
Limitations: it sizes safety stock for the worst case you've already seen, not for a formal statistical probability of stockout. If your business is growing, a new peak could exceed your historical worst case, so this figure should be recalculated regularly rather than set once.
Runs entirely in your browser.
A scorecard doesn't remove judgment, it documents it
Weighting price, lead time, quality and risk explicitly doesn't make a supplier decision objective — it makes the judgment visible and repeatable. Publish the weights next to the recommendation, and be ready to explain why they're weighted the way they are. That's usually what a manager is actually asking for when they ask you to 'justify' a supplier choice.
Inventory Carrying Cost
See what holding your current inventory actually costs a year, broken into capital, storage and risk — and what one more turn would save.
Assumptions this uses
- Total carrying rate is the sum of capital, storage/handling and risk percentages, applied to your average inventory value.
- Capital cost should reflect your own cost of capital or borrowing rate, not an industry-average figure.
- Turns are used only to estimate the value of an additional turn — they don't feed into the total carrying cost figure itself.
Limitations: it applies a flat annual percentage across your whole inventory value. For categories with fast obsolescence, risk actually increases with how long an item has sat in stock, which this simple version doesn't model separately.
Runs entirely in your browser.
The Supply Chain Decision & Inventory Workbook
The reorder point, carrying cost and supplier scorecard worksheets, plus the KPI and business-case frameworks — in a PDF you can work through offline.
Get the free guide →Weighted Supplier Scorecard
Compare two suppliers on price, lead time, quality and risk using your own weights, and see what would flip the recommendation.
Assumptions this uses
- Weights should reflect this specific sourcing decision's priorities, set before you know each supplier's scores.
- Scores (1-5) should come from the most concrete evidence available — quoted price, historical on-time rate, defect rate, documented risk assessment.
- The weighted total is a decision aid that documents your judgment; it doesn't replace it.
Limitations: it only reflects the criteria and weights you enter. Publishing your weights alongside the recommendation is what makes the comparison defensible — the tool itself can't verify your input scores are accurate.
Runs entirely in your browser.
Partner link — we may be paid a fee at no cost to you. How we make money.
Need a live quote or a demo, not arithmetic
Once you know what you're solving for, a category partner can give you real pricing faster than we can estimate it.
See software options →Sourcing & Planning Readiness Check
Six things worth confirming before you finalize a reorder policy, a supplier decision, or a software purchase.
Assumptions this uses
- Every item here is something you can verify yourself before finalizing a decision.
- This is a personal readiness check, not a certification of any supplier, product or vendor.
Limitations: a checklist organizes your own preparation. It doesn't verify a supplier's actual reliability, a software vendor's claims, or model your specific business — it just makes sure you've asked yourself the right questions first.
Runs entirely in your browser.
A scorecard doesn't remove judgment, it documents it
Weighting price, lead time, quality and risk explicitly doesn't make a supplier decision objective — it makes the judgment visible and repeatable. Publish the weights next to the recommendation, and be ready to explain why they're weighted the way they are. That's usually what a manager is actually asking for when they ask you to 'justify' a supplier choice.
When you need a real number
An estimate is arithmetic on your own figures. These are the routes to a live quote.
How we make money: some links here are partner or affiliate links and we may be paid a fee at no cost to you. It never changes what we write or how options are ordered — see our disclosure and methodology.
Supply chain & procurement software
Platforms like NetSuite SCM and Coupa handle the planning and procurement workflow that a spreadsheet stops covering once you're past a handful of SKUs and suppliers. Compare on your actual requirements, not a feature list.
See software options →