The order decision comes from two numbers: the shelf life remaining when the product enters the store, and its daily rate of sale. Every extra day on the shelf takes one day from the customer's remaining life. Food past its use-by date counts as unsafe food (Turkish Food Labelling Regulation, Article 27), so on short-life products a surplus is waste.
Example: a product enters the store with 6 days of life and sells 30 units a day. Stock cover is saleable stock divided by daily sales, and the batch with the earliest date sells first (FEFO).
| Order | Stock cover | Life left when the last unit sells |
|---|---|---|
| 90 units | 3 days | 3 days |
| 150 units | 5 days | 1 day |
Delivery frequency sets order size too: a store with one delivery a week holds seven days of stock, and with two deliveries that halves. Put the cost of the extra trip next to the value of the waste. Take groups such as cream, fresh fish, ready meals and raw milk out of the general routine and order daily, provided an order today is delivered tomorrow.
When waste is high, look first at delivery and holding temperature. Ten minutes a week is enough: pick three products and write down ordered, sold and thrown away. Within a few weeks it shows which group has a quantity problem and which a frequency problem.
