Solutions · Inventory
From stockout risk to an explainable replenishment
Safety stock, warehouse and supplier allocation, and replenishment solved on plant–DC–line reality — so risk becomes a recommendation with working shown.
Stop running inventory on fixed assumptions
Open POs move. Fill rates drift. MES downtime reshapes what can ship. Days-of-cover without replenishment lead time is incomplete — and dashboards alone cannot decide the next action.
- Safety stock and reorder points recomputed from live history
- Cover versus lead-time risk with delay and capacity signals
- Warehouse, slotting, and supplier allocation on finite supply
- L5 actions: expedite, reallocate, suggest backup — with thresholds
Answers
Supply chain and manufacturing questions, answered
What is multi-echelon inventory optimization?
Multi-echelon inventory optimization, or MEIO, sets stock levels across every tier of the network at once, from supplier to plant to distribution centre to customer. Optimizing each location alone creates duplicate buffers; optimizing the echelons together holds less stock for the same service level.
How is safety stock calculated?
Safety stock covers demand and supply variability across the replenishment lead time at a chosen service level. ExlAthena measures the actual variability in your order history and supplier performance rather than assuming a fixed percentage or a static days-of-cover rule.
How does ExlAthena prevent stockouts?
It continuously compares inventory cover against live lead times and open supply. When cover falls below the lead time, the item is flagged before it stocks out and a replenishment or alternate-supplier recommendation is raised with its fill-rate impact attached.
Can inventory optimization reduce working capital?
Yes. Most networks carry buffers that duplicate protection already held upstream. Rebalancing those buffers against real variability typically frees cash while holding or improving service, because the stock moves to where uncertainty actually is.
How does inventory optimization connect to production planning?
Inventory targets are meaningless if the plant cannot make the replenishment. ExlAthena solves both on one graph, so a replenishment decision is checked against work-center capacity and the production sequence at the same time.