Stockouts are expensive in ways that don't show up on the shelf: rushed shipping, idle staff, and customers who go elsewhere. Watch for these five signals.
1. You're breaking into safety stock
Safety stock is a buffer, not inventory. The moment you dip into it, treat the item as due for reorder.
2. Lead times are creeping up
If a supplier that used to deliver in three days now takes seven, your reorder point should move earlier to match.
3. Demand is trending, not spiking
A one-day spike is noise. Three weeks of steady growth is a trend — reorder to the new baseline, not the old one.
4. The bin looks emptier than the system says
Trust a physical count over a stale number. Shrinkage and miscounts hide until you look.
5. A promotion is coming
Marketing and inventory should share a calendar. Order ahead of the campaign, not during it.