The Number You Typed Now Survives the One O'Clock Run
Every automatic reorder point is recomputed at one in the morning from thirty days of demand, a lead time and a safety stock. Until October 2026 that meant every item, and a number somebody typed lasted until the job next ran. A typed figure is now marked Manual and left alone, and a minimum typed on a warehouse is never touched either.
Our take
An automatically maintained reorder point is a genuinely good idea, because the alternative is a number set once during implementation and never revisited while demand doubles around it. The formula is the standard one and it is honest. What matters operationally is the scope. When this was first written the sweep touched every stock item, so a number typed into that field was correct until one in the morning. Since October 2026 each item says who sets its reorder point: Automatic, recalculated nightly, or Manual, kept as typed — and typing a figure switches the item to Manual on its own. For the automatic ones the lever is still the pair of inputs, lead time and safety stock, because those are what the formula reads. And where one site needs a figure of its own, a warehouse minimum and maximum now overrides the item figure for Reorder and balancing, and the sweep never writes to it.
Somebody sets the reorder point for cement to two hundred bags on Thursday afternoon. By Friday morning it is sixty, and nobody changed it.
Updated 15 October 2026: the typed number is kept now
The scene above is how it worked when this post was written. Three things have changed. Typing a reorder point on the item marks it Manual, and the nightly job leaves a manual figure alone; the item form shows a Reorder point set by choice so you can switch it back to Automatic. The job never writes a computed zero any more — an item with nothing to base a figure on keeps the one it has. And till sales, net of till returns, now count as demand alongside approved stock issues. The rest of this post describes the automatic figure.
What runs, and when
At one o'clock each morning a job recalculates the reorder point on every stock item set to Automatic, in every workspace. Services, which carry no stock and so have no reorder point, are left out, and so is any item whose figure somebody typed. It runs on a single server, never overlaps itself, and reports its own start, finish, duration and any failure to the scheduled task register — so a sweep that stopped working is visible rather than silently absent.
It works out demand for the last thirty days, divides by thirty for a daily rate, multiplies by the item's lead time, adds the item's safety stock, and rounds up.
The calculation, in full
This is the textbook formula and there is nothing exotic in it. The interesting decisions are all about what feeds it.
Three properties worth knowing
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Every automatic stock item is recalculated
Services are skipped and so are items set to Manual; every other stock item is included. Until October 2026 an item with no lead time, no safety stock and no recent movement was written to zero, and a reorder point of zero means the item is never short. The job no longer writes a zero: where there is nothing to base a figure on, the item keeps the one it has — which on an item nobody ever configured is still the starting value of zero.
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A missing input counts as zero, not as unknown
Lead time and safety stock both count as zero when absent. So an item with real demand and no recorded lead time gets a reorder point equal to its safety stock alone, and with both empty the job leaves the item's figure where it is rather than computing one.
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The window is always thirty days
Not thirty days of trading, not since the item was created. An item introduced a week ago has its week of demand divided by thirty, which understates its rate by roughly four times. New items settle into a true figure about a month after launch.
Derived or configured: the item now says which
This is the practical takeaway and it is worth saying without hedging. Type a reorder point and the item becomes Manual, and the figure stays until you change it or set the item back to Automatic. Leave it on Automatic and the way to steer it is the lead time and safety stock, because those are the two values the formula actually reads. If what you want is a figure for one warehouse, set that warehouse's minimum and maximum on the item's Stock tab — the sweep writes only the item figure, so a warehouse level is typed and stays typed.
What counts as demand
Demand is measured from consumption recorded against adjustments that have actually been applied — stock issues and invoice issues — and, since October 2026, from till sales, with cancelled and voided sales left out and till returns netted off. Transfers between your own sites are not demand and are not counted. Knowing which of your outbound flows it covers is the difference between a reorder point that reflects reality and one that reflects a fraction of it.
The practical check takes ten minutes: pick a fast-moving item, look at what the sweep computed, and compare it against what you know left the shelf last month. If the computed figure is a small fraction of what you expected, your main issue path is not the one being counted, and the reorder points across the catalogue will be uniformly low in the same proportion.
A formula is only as wide as the events it can see.
One calculated number, and a typed one per building
The calculated reorder point lives on the item, so it is one figure for your whole organisation. For a business running one store that is exactly right; for one running a central warehouse and four branches it means the branch that turns over four times as much as the others would be measured against the same line.
Worth being deliberate about, because the consequence is asymmetric. A single figure set to suit the busiest site makes the quiet ones look permanently overstocked, and set to suit the quiet ones makes the busy one run out. Neither is a fault in the calculation; both are the honest result of one number describing several different demand patterns.
Since October 2026 that is a choice rather than a constraint. Each warehouse can carry its own minimum and maximum, and where one is set, the Reorder screen for that warehouse and stock balancing both use it instead of the item figure. The nightly job never writes to it, so the warehouse level is the figure that holds. Low-stock alerts and reminders still compare total stock against the calculated item figure.
What AWRA OpsHub does today
- A nightly recalculation at one in the morning across every automatic stock item in every workspace, services excluded, running on a single server and never overlapping itself.
- A Reorder point set by choice on each item — Automatic, recalculated nightly, or Manual, kept as typed — with a typed figure switching the item to Manual on its own, on the web form, the API and imports.
- A computed zero never written, so an item with nothing to base a figure on keeps the one it has.
- The standard formula — average daily usage over thirty days, multiplied by lead time, plus safety stock, rounded up.
- Lead time and safety stock stored per item, as the two inputs the calculation reads and the two it never overwrites.
- Demand measured from consumption recorded against applied adjustments and from till sales net of till returns, so a movement that was raised and never applied, or a sale that was voided, does not inflate the figure.
- Start, finish, duration and failure of the sweep reported to the scheduled task register, so a job that stopped running is visible rather than silently absent.
- A cross-organisation sweep declared as such, with demand keyed on item so no workspace's consumption can reach another's reorder point.
- A minimum and maximum per warehouse, typed on the item's Stock tab and never touched by the nightly job — Reorder for a chosen warehouse fills to its maximum, and balancing uses its minimum in place of the item figure.
- Stock balancing suggestions built from the warehouse minimum where one is set and the calculated item figure where it is not, proposing internal transfers.
- A low stock reminder sent daily, so a figure crossing its line reaches somebody.
More we can add to your workspace
- A calculated level per warehouse, measuring each site's own demand so a busy branch's minimum moves with its turnover rather than being typed.
- A configurable demand window, so a seasonal business can measure against a comparable period rather than the last thirty days.
- A shorter window for new items, dividing by days since introduction rather than always by thirty.
- A record of what the reorder point was before each recalculation, so a figure that moved sharply can be explained rather than investigated.
- Seasonality or trend in the calculation, rather than a flat thirty-day average that treats last Tuesday and last month identically.
Where we point you to a specialist
- We will not keep or replace a figure on history nobody can see. A derived number that sometimes updates and sometimes does not, for reasons the screen does not show, is harder to reason about than one that always updates — which is why the item form says in words whether its reorder point is Automatic or Manual, and lets you change it.
- Choosing your safety stock is a commercial judgement about service level and working capital, and it stays yours. We will hold the number and use it; publishing a default would be arbitrary across the range of businesses running this.
- Where a supplier contract, a licence or a regulator obliges you to hold a minimum quantity, that obligation governs and belongs on the record as a floor you set, not as something a demand formula is allowed to move.
With a Manual setting on each item and typed levels per warehouse already in place, the contained pieces left are the demand window — configurable, and shorter for new items — and a log of each recalculation. Between them they cover most remaining reasons to question the nightly number.
A reorder point that fits your shape
The job, the formula, the inputs, a Manual setting on each item and a typed level per warehouse all exist. What organisations ask for next is a calculated figure per site, and a window that fits their trade.
A calculated level per warehouse
Demand measured per site, so a branch turning over four times as much gets a minimum that follows its own turnover rather than one somebody typed.
A record of each recalculation
What the reorder point was before the job changed it, and what it became, so a figure that moved sharply can be explained rather than investigated.
A window you choose
Thirty days is right for steady demand and wrong for seasonal trade. A configurable window, and a shorter one for items too new to have thirty days behind them.
We publish scope, not dates.
Scope reorder pointsFive questions to ask about an automatic reorder point
Is the number I type kept?
A good answer sounds like
A straight answer.
What ours actually is
Yes, since October 2026. Typing it marks the item Manual and the sweep leaves it alone; set the item back to Automatic and the calculated figure returns.
What is the formula?
A good answer sounds like
Written down.
What ours actually is
Thirty-day usage divided by thirty, times lead time, plus safety stock, rounded up.
What happens with no lead time recorded?
A good answer sounds like
Named behaviour.
What ours actually is
It counts as zero, so the reorder point becomes the safety stock alone — and with no safety stock either, the job leaves the existing figure alone rather than writing a zero.
Is the figure per warehouse?
A good answer sounds like
A clear scope.
What ours actually is
The calculated figure is one per item. A typed minimum and maximum per warehouse overrides it for Reorder and balancing; alerts still read the item figure.
How do I know the job ran?
A good answer sounds like
A status, not a guess.
What ours actually is
It records its start, finish, duration and any failure to the scheduled task register.
Fill in two fields, not one
Lead time and safety stock are the two values the nightly job reads and the two it never touches. An afternoon spent populating them for your fastest fifty items is worth more than any amount of editing the number they produce.
Talk through stock policyFrequently asked questions
Why does the reorder point I set keep changing?
Until October 2026 it was recalculated nightly for every stock item, so a typed figure lasted until one in the morning. Now typing a figure marks the item Manual and the nightly job leaves it alone. If yours still moves, check the Reorder point set by choice on the item: Automatic means the formula owns it. A minimum and maximum set on a warehouse are never touched by the job either.
Why is the reorder point zero on most of my catalogue?
Usually because those items have never had a figure. An item starts at zero, and the job only writes a positive result — it needs a lead time with some demand in the last thirty days, or a safety stock, to compute one. Until October 2026 it also wrote zeros over items with no inputs, so an older catalogue can carry many. An item with a reorder point of zero is never reported as short, because nothing is ever below it, so set a safety stock or type a figure on the ones that matter.
Does it work per warehouse?
Yes, where you set one. A warehouse minimum and maximum override the item's figure for Reorder and balancing, and the nightly job never overwrites them. The calculation itself still produces one figure per item, which is what applies in any warehouse without a level of its own and what the low-stock alerts compare against total stock.
What counts as demand?
Consumption recorded against adjustments that have actually been applied, plus till sales less till returns, over the last thirty days. Cancelled and voided sales are left out, and transfers between your own sites are not demand. It is still worth checking against a fast-moving item you know well: if the computed usage is a fraction of what you expect, your main outbound path is not the one being measured.
What about seasonal stock?
A flat thirty-day average handles seasonality badly by design — it will chase a peak upward a month late and chase it downward a month after it ends. For genuinely seasonal trade the useful answer is a configurable window or a comparable-period comparison, both of which are on the list above. In the meantime, safety stock is the lever that absorbs the difference.
How do I know the calculation ran last night?
The job records its start, its finish, how long it took and any failure to the scheduled task register, and it never overlaps itself or runs twice across servers. That matters more than it sounds: a nightly recalculation that quietly stopped would leave every reorder point frozen at whatever it was on the day it died, and nothing about the numbers themselves would look wrong.
