What this page is for
This page sets safety stock — the buffer you keep on hand to absorb swings in demand and supply so you don’t run out. Safety stock is stored per warehouse-product: expand a product row to see each warehouse where it is stocked, and set the buffer for each one. Getting safety stock right is a balancing act. More buffer means fewer stockouts but more cash tied up in inventory; less buffer frees up cash but raises the risk of running dry. This page is where you strike that balance product by product.What you can set
| Column | What it means |
|---|---|
| Product / Warehouse | The product, and each warehouse it is stocked in when expanded. |
| SKU | The stock-keeping identifier. |
| Safety stock | The computed buffer quantity Spherecast will try to keep on hand. |
| Method | How the buffer is calculated (see below). |
| Safety days | When the method is Safety days, the number of days of demand to cover. |
| Status | Health of current stock versus the safety-stock target. |
Method
| Method | What it means |
|---|---|
| Safety days | A fixed number of days of forecasted demand to cover. Simple and predictable — you name the days, Spherecast converts them to a quantity. |
| ABC/XYZ | A statistical safety stock based on your configured service level, the total lead time, and forecast error. It reacts to how variable each product actually is. |
Status
| Status | What it means |
|---|---|
| Healthy (green) | Current stock is comfortably at or above the safety-stock target. |
| Caution (yellow) | Current stock is slipping toward the target. |
| Warning (orange) | Current stock is below the buffer you want. |
Service levels
A separate Service levels screen holds a 3×3 matrix. The rows are the A / B / C classes (value and importance) and the columns are X / Y / Z (demand stability). Each cell is an editable % service level: a higher percentage means you cover more of the demand swings, which produces more safety stock. This matrix only applies to products whose method is ABC/XYZ — products on Safety days ignore it.How it affects planning
Safety stock is the floor Spherecast defends. Reorders are timed and sized to keep stock from dropping below the buffer, so raising a service level or adding safety days pulls orders forward and increases the quantities held. It also colors coverage signals like DOS — a product dipping below safety stock shows up as at-risk.Step by step: switch a product to statistical safety stock
- Find the product and expand it to see its warehouses.
- Set the Method to ABC/XYZ (bulk-apply it if several products should change).
- Open the Service levels screen and set the % service level for the relevant A/B/C × X/Y/Z cells.
- Review the recalculated Safety stock quantity and the Status for each warehouse.
Example
A class-A product with steady demand sits in the A × X cell at a 98% service level. Because demand is stable, the statistical buffer stays lean. A class-A product with erratic demand lands in A × Z at 98% and gets a much larger buffer — the same protection costs more inventory when demand is unpredictable.Note: Safety stock is a per-warehouse setting. Pair it with General (lead times and order cycle) and Sourcing (supplier lead times), and watch the result on DOS.