Why a flat safety stock loses both ways
Distribution customers expect near-complete orders, but a uniform buffer over-stocks the steady SKUs and still runs short on the volatile ones.
Cash sits in the wrong inventory while the fill rate slips exactly where it matters.
Right-size the buffer per SKU and location
Fill rate is units shipped complete over units ordered. The harder measure is the perfect order, on time, in full, undamaged, and correctly documented, which is multiplicative, so a high target is genuinely demanding.
Demand sensing at SKU level, factoring real supplier lead times and cost, lets buffers follow actual variability instead of a flat percentage.
Where the ERP closes the loop
Buffers only help when they place the replenishment and the transfer, and when margin is visible at the order line. On Hudace, landed cost and freight sit with the order, so a rep sees margin before committing, and Xenon AI right-sizes inventory across the network.
A planner approves the plan, and the same view keeps a unit from being oversold across channels.
The numbers to watch
Hold the service measures and the working-capital measures in the same view.
Fill rate
Units shipped complete / units ordered. The headline service level distribution lives on.
Perfect order rate
On time, in full, undamaged, correctly documented. Multiplicative, so each gap compounds.
Forecast accuracy
Tracked as MAPE or WAPE. Better accuracy is what lets buffers shrink without stockouts rising.
Gross margin per order
(Net price - landed cost - freight) / net price, visible at order time, not month-end.
See demand-led distribution on Hudace
Talk to our team about connecting demand, replenishment, and order margin on one platform.