For job shops

Automatic reorder thresholds for small job shops.

The same common parts running out twice is a thresholds problem. Set the reorder point from on-hand, lead time, and buffer — then let the same procurement pipeline that ships now draft the PO the instant it trips.

Every small job shop has a parts list that fits on one page — bushings, fasteners, fittings, the few SKUs that the floor pulls from every week. None of them are exotic. None of them are expensive. And yet one of them runs out every other month and the line goes down for forty minutes while the buyer drives across town.

That is not a vendor problem and it is not a buyer problem. It is an inventory reorder threshold problem. The threshold was set by gut feel years ago, and the buyer is the one paying for every time it was wrong. Automatic reorder thresholds for small job shops fix this by computing the reorder point from the data already on the floor — on-hand quantity, supplier lead time, and the buffer you actually need — so the same parts stop running out at the same cadence.

The three steps that replace "we ran out again"

Fortera's procurement pipeline already drafts the PO from the alert. The same loop, pointed at automatic reorder thresholds, becomes the line of defense between the buzzer and the outage.

1. Capture
Every part pulled or received updates its on-hand quantity the moment it moves. Part number, supplier, lead time, and the last few months of usage become the record that drives the reorder point — no spreadsheet, no end-of-week sweep.
2. Threshold
The reorder point is recomputed per part from current stock, supplier lead time, and the safety buffer you set once for the shop. The buyer stops setting these by hand and stops revising them every quarter when the same part runs out.
3. Reorder
When stock crosses the threshold, the same procurement pipeline that already ships today drafts an approval-ready PO against the right supplier. One click sends it; the line never knows it was close to going down.

The whole loop runs against the procurement pipeline shipped by Fortera — built around the small job shop's single buyer and single parts list. If you want to see what the drafted reorder looks like before you commit, the homepage has the interactive walkthrough, or check pricing.

What changes on the floor

A shop that stops losing forty minutes a month to "we ran out again" gets its line time back. The automatic reorder thresholds turn the parts list from a static spreadsheet into a live signal, and the same PO automation loop that drafts the purchase order already runs the rest. Anything else, talk to support.

See the live demo → See pricing Talk to support

Filed under Fortera Blog · also see Fortera for Small Manufacturers · Pricing · Support