If you want to see how long your current stock will last, Inventory Planner provides several metrics to show you when stockouts are forecasted to happen. The most commonly-used ones are:

Read on for definitions of these metrics as well as examples that explain the difference between them.

The "Sells out info" metric indicates when stock of a product will run out, and how much profit would be lost each day if the stockout lasts beyond the planning period (lead time + days of stock).

If an item sells out within the planning period, the "sells out info" column will be blank. For example, if a product's planning period is 30 days but the stock runs out in 20 days, the column will not populate.

The number of days until a product will be completely out of stock. 

"Sells out in" starts with your forecast, then takes into consideration your current stock and any items on order to calculate when you'll run out. If items are on order, "sells out in" won't consider stockouts before the products arrive.

For example, if you're forecasted to sell 5 items/day, have 10 units in stock and 20 units due to be received in 5 days, the sells out in metric will be calculated as 11 days (2 days of current stock + 5 days waiting for the purchase order + 4 days after the purchase order arrives).

The number of days until a product will be out of stock, even if there is stock arriving at a later date.

"Sells out in first" starts with your forecast and takes into consideration your current stock. It checks for items on order, and looks at the expected date. If that date is after the number of days your current stock will last, causing a temporary stockout, it states how many days until that stockout.

For example, if you're forecasted to sell 5 items/day, have 10 units in stock and 20 units due to be received in 5 days, the sells out in metric will be calculated as 2 days.

The number of days the current available inventory will last based on the forecast.

"Stock cover" looks at your forecast and compares that to your current stock to calculate how many days your current stock will last. It does not take on order quantities into account.

The last date to place an order to avoid running out of stock. If you have already passed that date, the replenish date will be set to today's date, indicating you should place an order as soon as possible.

The replenish date is calculated based on forecasted sales during the lead time.

For example, if the lead time is 14 days, you have no items on order, and your stock cover is 20 days, the replenish date will be set to 6 days from now. If your stock cover is 10 days, the replenish date will be set to today's date.

For other definitions and a full list of metrics and filters available in Inventory Planner, see the Glossary of Terms.

"Sells out in" and "sells out in first" will be different if a stockout is forecast before the next purchase order is expected to arrive.

In this example, the current stock is forecast to run out on August 1.

"Stock cover in days" will display how many days from now that is, and "sells out in first" will display the date that the stock will be at 0. 

In this example, "sells out in" is displayed as October 1 because that is when the last of the stock commitment will run out.

Note that "sells out in" does not indicate that there will be a stockout starting August 1. This is where it is helpful to use "sells out in first" and/or "stock cover in days". 

In this example, the next purchase order is expected to arrive before the current stock on hand will run out. 'Stock cover in days' will show how long the current stock will last. This does not include any 'on order' quantities.

In this case, 'sells out in' and 'sells out in first' will both show October 1. There is no forecasted stockout before that date.

In this example for SKU-360C4101, the current stock (stock cover in days) will last for just 2 days (sells out in first). Once the purchase order arrives with 76 units, the stock will last for 17 days (sells out in).

Based on the current stock + incoming stock, and the forecasted sales over the course of the Lead Time (Dec 21 - Jan 4) and Days of Stock (Jan 4 - Feb 3), a replenishment of 100 is recommended as of the current date.

The replenishment recommendation gradually increases until the Replenish Date of December 30, at which point the Replenishment will represent the quantity required to satisfy the forecasted sales during the "Days of Stock" period. The "Forecast" column provides a good idea of what this will look like by then (about 200 units in this example).