The system says 400 units; the warehouse finds 340. Somewhere between receiving, transfers and picking, the numbers drifted. This block tracks stock by location, lot and serial number, counts a little every day instead of shutting down for a stocktake, and builds the export paperwork from the order.
You know the total, not which warehouse, bin or lot it is in.
A supplier lot is bad, and nobody can say which customers received it.
The warehouse closes for two days, and the count is wrong again a month later.
Commercial invoice, packing list and certificate of origin are rebuilt by hand for every shipment.
Lot or serial captured, stored to a bin.
On hand, reserved and available, per site.
Between warehouses, tracked while in transit.
A reorder point triggers a purchase or a work order.
Pick list, packing and carrier label.
Export documents from the order, tracking to the customer.
Cycle counts, fast movers most often.
Plants, warehouses and bins, each with its own on-hand balance.
Live quantities with what is reserved, on order and available.
Move stock between locations with in-transit tracking.
Trace any lot back to its inputs and forward to every customer who got it.
Track individual units from production to the customer.
Count a little every day instead of shutting down for a full stocktake.
Reorder levels and safety stock that flag what to buy or make next.
Pick lists, packing and dispatch from the warehouse floor.
Rates, labels and tracking from the carriers you already use.
Commercial invoice, packing list and certificate of origin from the order.
Illustrative. Available stock — not on-hand — is what matters: units already promised to orders are not there to use.
| Average daily usage | 120 units |
|---|---|
| Supplier lead time | 10 days |
| Demand during lead time | 1,200 units |
| Safety stock (3 days) | 360 units |
| Reorder point | 1,560 units |
| Rule | When available stock falls to 1,560, raise a purchase order |
Picks, packs and counts from a handheld or a phone.
Sees stock and transfers across every site in one view.
Traces a lot forward to every customer who received it.
Export documents follow the destination's rules — the paperwork for the EU, the US, the UAE and Singapore is not one template.
Lot traceability links every lot of finished goods back to the material lots it was made from, and forward to every customer who received it — so a recall can be scoped to exactly the affected stock.
Reorder point = average daily usage × lead time in days + safety stock. When available stock falls to that level, it is time to buy or make more.
A cycle count checks a small set of items every day or week instead of shutting down for a full stocktake. It finds errors sooner and keeps the warehouse running.
The simplest method is average daily usage multiplied by the days of buffer you want to hold. More precise methods use how much demand and supplier lead times vary. Either way, it is the cushion that covers surprises.