Letting a plan recalculate reorder thresholds
A threshold plan recalculates reorder points from sales history on a schedule, so that the values stop being the ones somebody entered a year earlier.
Putting a plan into service takes two deliberate steps. A new plan is created inactive, with the dry run enabled and the saving mode on Proposes only, and both switches have to be lifted by a person, so that nothing reaches a product until somebody has read what the plan produces.
Before you start
Section titled “Before you start”Sales history worth reading is required. The plan computes from past demand, so a shop that has been running for three weeks provides little to compute from.
A working queue is required. Runs are executed in the background, so in a shop without message processing the plan never finishes. → Scheduled tasks
1. Create the plan
Section titled “1. Create the plan”Stockly → Purchasing → Stock Thresholds → Threshold plans → new plan. Enter a Name that describes what the plan does; the placeholder suggests the form: a weekly recalculation for particular classes.
2. Narrow what it looks at
Section titled “2. Narrow what it looks at”The Scope card determines which products the plan covers. Start with one class or one warehouse and check whether the resulting values are plausible.
3. Decide what it may save
Section titled “3. Decide what it may save”What the plan may save is the safety mechanism and has four settings:
| Setting | Effect |
|---|---|
| Proposes only | writes nothing; every result waits for a decision |
| Saves within limits | writes what moves less than the jump limits |
| Saves B and C classes | holds class A for a person, because a wrong threshold costs most there |
| Saves automatically | writes everything it computes |
4. Run it dry and read the result
Section titled “4. Run it dry and read the result”Dry run computes and records proposals but writes no threshold to a product, regardless of the save mode. Leave it enabled and start the plan with Run now: an inactive plan never starts on its own, but it can always be started by hand.
Read the proposals before lifting either switch. → Thresholds to decide
5. Switch the plan on
Section titled “5. Switch the plan on”Once the values are correct, clear Dry run and set Active, in that order. Either switch on its own leaves a plan that does nothing on its schedule.
Checking it works
Section titled “Checking it works”Stockly → Purchasing → Stock Thresholds → Threshold runs shows the run, the data it examined and the decisions it made. Thresholds it was allowed to save are on the products; the remaining ones wait for a decision.
When a plan stops running
Section titled “When a plan stops running”An active plan that is no longer dry and still produces nothing usually has a queue problem rather than a plan problem. A scheduled task that is switched off does not report an error; it simply performs no work. → Threshold runs
Where to go next
Section titled “Where to go next”- Threshold plans — every parameter of a plan in detail.
- Thresholds to decide — reading and applying what a plan held back.
- Reorder suggestions — what the new thresholds then produce.