CPG Operator Guide
Inventory Policy Methods Guide
Use this guide to define the inventory-policy question, align the demand and lead-time basis, document operating constraints, and choose the next review method before calculating or approving anything.
Start with the inventory decision
Write down whether the team is reviewing current exposure, documenting a future policy, or approving a specific operating action. Keep the scope to one defined SKU, family, location, channel, unit, and time basis. A general request to optimize inventory is not a controlled decision statement.
What to include
- decision statement
- scope
- unit and period basis
Align demand and lead-time records
Historical shipments, customer orders, production consumption, and forecasts are different demand representations. Likewise, supplier, production, transit, receiving, and inspection time describe different stages. Record the source and period for each input before comparing policy options.
What to include
- demand basis
- lead-time stages
- source and period
Map constraints and tradeoffs
Document MOQ and case-pack rules, shelf life, storage capacity, working-capital limits, quality holds, service objectives, seasonality, and supplier reliability. These constraints can conflict, so the guide records the tradeoff rather than choosing a target.
What to include
- order constraints
- shelf-life and quality
- cash, space, and service tradeoffs
Distinguish the planning methods
Coverage asks how long entered on-hand units last at an entered movement rate. Reorder and safety-stock methods require additional demand, variability, lead-time, and service assumptions. Cycle-count planning governs physical-record review. Do not substitute one method for another merely because the legacy URL contains the word optimization.
What to include
- coverage method
- reorder and safety-stock boundary
- cycle-count boundary
Review a bounded perishable-SKU example
Suppose an operator reviews one chilled SKU but combines case-level shipments, unit-level on-hand inventory, a supplier lead time that excludes receiving, and a shelf-life limit that is not recorded. The data cannot support a comparable policy review until the pack, period, timing stages, and shelf-life constraint are aligned. This example does not calculate or recommend a policy.
What to include
- labelled assumptions
- basis mismatch
- no policy result
Choose the next operating record
Use the Days of Inventory Coverage Planner only for current coverage from entered units and movement. Use the Inventory Policy Assumptions Worksheet to capture service, lead-time, constraint, and review inputs. Use a qualified planning owner and current source records for any inventory-policy or purchase decision.
What to include
- owner calculator
- assumptions worksheet
- qualified human review
How this page fits the Tools system
The Days of Inventory Coverage Planner owns current-coverage arithmetic; this guide owns method selection and input preparation, while the sibling worksheet owns structured assumption capture.
The guide ends with method and record selection, not an inventory level, forecast, service target, replenishment recommendation, or operating decision.
What this page does—and does not—show
This guide explains inventory-policy inputs and method boundaries. It does not calculate or recommend inventory levels, forecast demand, approve an order, or replace current source records and accountable review.
The Days of Inventory Coverage Planner owns current-coverage arithmetic; the Inventory Policy Assumptions Worksheet owns structured record capture; this page owns method explanation and input preparation.
Evidence and review boundary
Tier C. This guide explains inventory-policy inputs and method boundaries. It does not calculate or recommend inventory levels, forecast demand, approve an order, or replace current source records and accountable review.
Inventory, supply-chain, production, sales, and finance owners using current SKU, location, demand, lead-time, shelf-life, and constraint records.
No external rate or rule is embedded; values and assumptions come from the user.
Related tools and next steps
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Guidance is being rebuilt with CPG design partners to connect these planning steps to a shared operating model. That connected product workflow is not available for live product demonstrations today. This standalone browser page does not connect to a Guidance account, product data, or a live operating workflow.
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