Operations · Worked example

Know when stock is running low.

Get a useful warning while there is still time to check and reorder.

An illustrative workflow to help you decide where to start. The right setup depends on your software, data and rules.

Try a workflowIllustrative example

The starting point

Know when stock is running low

Example stock: 4 bags of coffee. Your alert threshold is 5 bags. Stock was updated today.

Try an exception

You keep the final say

Explore the example, then try an exception to see where a person steps in.

Sample data. Nothing is sent, booked or purchased.

What you need: Accurate stock records, agreed thresholds and someone responsible for ordering.
What stays with you: A person checks pack sizes, supplier lead times and budget before any purchase.
If something goes wrong: Stale or unavailable stock data creates a check request, not an automatic order.
What to measure: Stockouts, useful alerts and time spent checking stock.
Where AI helps: A threshold alert uses rules. Forecasting demand is a different, more data-dependent task.
Check your existing software: Square supports low-stock alerts. Check your till or inventory software first.

Check whether the tools you already use can handle this. A connected workflow helps when information, decisions or follow-up get lost between them.