[ToFundorNot]

We deal with a similar problem in construction materials, and it's not that simple. Situation:

1)Customer picks up product, other falls on the ground and becomes damaged, product -x Equation: a-b-x where you don't know how much product is damaged 2)Product arrives in a bad batch, x number is affected, and requires manual adjustment, this doesn't happen, or happens incorrectly Equation: a-b-x where you don't know how much product is damaged 3)Customer picks up X amount, however x-y was registered as a sale Equation: a-b-y where you don't know how much product is unaccounted for 4)Delivery is expected on x day, however due to traffic/sickness/equipment failure delivery is delayed Equation: a-0, stock isn't available as it didn't arrive, however the assumption was that product arrived (trivial to fix this one, but I'm laying out scenarios).

You now have four scenarios that are guaranteed to happen around %10 of the time. Issues can be expanded to the manufacturer/border/trade agreements/ thousands of other potential scenarios that disrupt sourcing.

In terms of taking stock, it's not a trivial task to take accurate inventory on a regular basis. It's a manual problem that can only be done in a reliable fashion in most cases through estimation (therefore inaccurate).

The reason why they provide availability ratings is that it provides a clearer picture of what a customer can purchase, and in the event it has a low rating, prompt for potential replacements. It's not binary, it's a case of 'probably' or 'probably not'.

I've seen stock that should have lasted a week disappear in a day, stock mis-allocated(multiple times for the same item from multiple vendors in the same day), large volumes sold incorrectly resulting in stock adjustments, wastage from random occurrences, etc.

I hope this provides a level of insight into the complexities of

[slt2021]

Thank you very much for sharing!