/Insights — Warehouse & Inventory · June 10, 2026
Stock cover is a decision, not a number you inherit
Most distributors hold the stock cover they happened to end up with. It came from an old spreadsheet, a bad month three years ago, or a supplier's minimum order quantity — not from a decision anyone made deliberately.
Cover should be set per SKU, from three inputs: how fast the line moves, how variable that movement is, and how long replenishment actually takes including the bad weeks. Lines that move steadily need surprisingly little. Lines that spike need more than the average suggests.
The practical test is simple. If you cannot say, per SKU, how many days of cover you intend to hold and why, then your working capital is being decided by accident.