Block · Purchasing
Purchase planning software: buy what actually sells
Buy what sells, without stockouts.
Almost every distributor lives the same contradiction: a full warehouse and still shortages every week. The forecast is a guess, minimums and maximums have not been reviewed in months, and the “two months of stock” rule is applied the same way to a fast-moving SKU as to a seasonal import. The result is capital trapped in what does not move and stockouts in what does.
The nBlock Purchasing block plans by demand with DDMRP on top of the ERP you already have. It calculates buffers per SKU with red, yellow and green zones, adjusts for seasonality from your own history and suggests how much to replenish, rounded to the pallet. Your planner prioritizes by color, issues the order in the usual system and stock ends up aligned with what really sells.
Challenge
You buy with bloated inventory or straight into stockouts; the forecast is a guess and working capital sits on the shelf.
Solution
Demand-driven planning (DDMRP) with buffers per SKU, a forecast with seasonality and replenishment rounded to the pallet.
Impact
Stock aligned to real demand, less capital tied up and no stockouts.
- DDMRP buffers per SKU
- A forecast that understands seasonality
- Replenishment suggestion rounded to the pallet
How it works on your ERP
- Step 1
Reads your history and your suppliers
It takes from the ERP the historical consumption per SKU, open orders, the lead times your suppliers actually meet and the purchase minimums and multiples. Nothing to load again.
- Step 2
Calculates DDMRP buffers per SKU
It sizes the red, yellow and green zones of each buffer based on consumption, lead time and variability. Not every SKU gets a buffer: slow movers and erratic demand are handled with simpler rules.
- Step 3
Adjusts for seasonality
The forecast understands the seasonality in your history and adjusts the buffer before the season arrives, not during it. That way you do not buy to repeat last year’s peak without evidence.
- Step 4
Suggests replenishment by color
One screen sorts SKUs by buffer penetration: reds first, then yellows. The suggestion comes rounded to the pallet and the order is issued in your ERP as always.
Where it is used
Imports with long lead times
Products that take a long time to arrive and leave no room for error: the buffer absorbs supplier variability without filling the warehouse out of fear of a stockout.
Preparing for peak season
Anticipate the seasonal peak by adjusting replenishment ahead of time, based on your own sales history and not on a hunch about what happened last year.
Slowing down what is declining
Spot products that are slowing down and stop replenishing them before they turn into slow stock, so you do not add tied-up capital that later has to be liquidated.
Frequently asked questions
What is DDMRP and how is it different from traditional MRP?
DDMRP is a methodology that plans against actual demand instead of relying on the forecast alone. It places buffers on the SKUs worth protecting and triggers replenishment based on each buffer’s position. Classic MRP explodes a forecast that, with thousands of SKUs and erratic demand, fails structurally.
So the forecast is no longer useful?
It is, but its role changes. The forecast still helps anticipate seasonality, size the buffers and negotiate with suppliers. What it stops doing is triggering every purchase order. The decision to replenish is made on the net flow position: stock on hand, plus orders in transit, minus qualified demand.
Do I need to change ERP to use it?
No. The buffer calculation, the net flow position and the prioritization by color run as a layer that reads the item master, the movements and the open orders from your ERP. The purchase order keeps being issued in the usual system, which stays the source of truth.
Does it work for a small or mid-sized distributor?
Yes. What decides whether it makes sense is the number of SKUs and the variability of demand, not revenue. Smaller operations tend to have less process inertia, and that helps. The initial calculation is done on your own history and results show up in weeks. Getting the team to buy by color takes a bit more support.
Other blocks
- Sales intelligenceYour whole sales force, made smart.
- Route planningEvery rep’s week, planned.
- Order takingZero manual order entry.
- Customer serviceEvery customer message, answered instantly.
- Customer profitabilityWhat makes you money, and what takes it.
- Automated collectionsThe money you already earned, collected on time.
- Automatic reconciliationTwo data sources, aligned on their own.
Next step
Shall we look at it on your own data?
In half an hour we show you how the purchasing block runs on your ERP and what changes in your operation.