Special orders, new parts and discontinued parts
Every parts business has parts that do not follow the normal rules. Narada treats each kind differently, so one customer’s special order does not fill your shelves and a brand-new part is not guessed at.
| Kind of part | What Narada does | What it needs from your files |
|---|---|---|
| Special order for one customer | Leaves it out of the demand it buys for | The customer order reference on the purchase order |
| Non-stock part | Does not buy it for the shelf | Stocking policy set to non-stock in your parts list |
| Slow part customers keep asking for | May keep 1 on the shelf | Sales history, special orders included |
| Brand-new part | Waits for sales history before sizing it | Nothing. It starts once sales arrive |
| Discontinued part | Holds it more leanly, and never adds a spare | Status set to discontinued in your parts list |
| Part replaced by a new number | Treated as two separate parts | See below |
Special orders and non-stock parts
Section titled “Special orders and non-stock parts”A special order is a part bought for one customer, not for the shelf. If Narada counted it as normal demand, it would keep buying stock nobody else wants.
So Narada leaves special orders out of the demand it buys for. It knows a sale was a special order in two ways:
- The purchase order carries the customer order reference it was bought for.
- The part is marked non-stock in your parts list. Narada then holds it as a part bought to order, not for the shelf.
Narada only uses what your files say. It does not guess which sales were special orders.
Why special orders still count somewhere: one customer’s special order should not fill your shelf. But when several customers ask for the same part through the year, that is shelf demand. So special orders count as asks for the rule below. See The files Narada needs.
Slow parts customers keep asking for
Section titled “Slow parts customers keep asking for”Some parts sell too rarely to earn shelf space on the numbers. But customers keep asking. Say customers ask for a part 3 times or more in a year. If the margin at stake pays for holding it, Narada keeps 1 on the shelf. Special orders count as asks.
Brand-new parts
Section titled “Brand-new parts”A part with no sales at a branch is not sized yet. Its line says so: it could be brand new, or never stocked there. A part with very little history is also held back until there is enough to size it from.
For the first order of a new part, decide the quantity yourself, as you do today. Once it has sold for a while, Narada takes over.
Discontinued parts
Section titled “Discontinued parts”Mark a part discontinued in your parts list. Narada reads common ERP words for this, such as discontinued, inactive, obsolete, superseded and retired.
For a discontinued part, Narada counts holding stock as costing twice as much, because leftovers may never sell. So it buys less. It also never adds the “keep 1 on the shelf” spare.
Stock of a discontinued part that is not selling shows on Clear Stock, with what it costs to keep.
Parts replaced by a new number
Section titled “Parts replaced by a new number”When a supplier replaces one part number with another, Narada sees two separate parts. The old one’s sales history does not pass to the new one.
So the new number gets no suggestion until it builds its own sales history, which takes a couple of months. Order the new number yourself during that time. Mark the old part discontinued, so Narada holds it leanly.