Your reorder point is a statistical number, not a gut feel
In March a QC lab I supply ran out of 2 mL clear crimp vials on a Thursday afternoon with 340 samples still queued for the weekend. The buyer had been ordering in 20-case lots every three weeks, the distributor had shifted its own stock position, and the lead time that had been 5 days for two years became 19. The run stoppage cost more than the entire year’s vial budget. That is not a purchasing failure. It is a planning failure, and it comes from treating MOQ, lead time, and reorder ...
