{"id":10984,"date":"2025-06-11T09:47:00","date_gmt":"2025-06-11T07:47:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/optano.com\/?p=10984"},"modified":"2026-01-20T12:51:26","modified_gmt":"2026-01-20T11:51:26","slug":"optimal-safety-stocks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/optano.com\/en\/media\/insight\/1\/optimale-sicherheitsbestaende\/","title":{"rendered":"Optimal safety stocks"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t

Optimal safety stocks<\/h1>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t

How high is high enough?<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

When I hear the word safety stock, I immediately think of my stock of baking powder, because I have a lot of baking powder in my stock.\u00a0Security<\/em>existed. The thought of not being able to bake something spontaneously because there is no baking powder in the house means that I am constantly buying baking powder - even if the stock would last for a few months. Better safe than sorry! My safety stock of baking powder is therefore high and fortunately baking powder is neither expensive nor does it take up a lot of space in the store cupboard.<\/p>

Safety stocks are a much more critical issue for the industry: resources and storage space are expensive and tie up capital that could potentially be invested more wisely elsewhere. At the same time, the consequences of a stockout are much greater than if there were no waffles in my shop.<\/p>

So how can safety stocks be selected so that they are always high enough but at the same time as low as possible so as not to cause unnecessary costs?<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

\n\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t

Better safe than sorry!<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t

Is more really better?<\/h3>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

\u201eBetter safe than sorry\u201c is a motto that we often encounter in the industry. The fear of a stockout or the last case that actually occurred ensure that safety stocks are increased. However, safety stocks are often not based on evaluated figures, but on a gut feeling. Anyone who has ever run out of stock - even if it was only a one-off peak in demand - tends to prefer to have a little more of everything in stock.<\/p>

In order to move the planning of the safety stock from a gut feeling to an evaluated figure, some considerations must be made. The level of the\u00a0Service level\u00a0<\/b>plays a central role: If you want to fulfill your orders for 95% in the desired time, you need higher safety stocks than if you only want to be able to deliver 75%.<\/p>

In addition, the\u00a0Security of the supply chain\u00a0<\/b>The more uncertain suppliers are, the higher safety stocks must be selected to compensate for this uncertainty. However, if a supplier is very reliable, they can be selected correspondingly lower.<\/p>

The third point to play\u00a0Demand forecasts<\/b>\u00a0The more precise these are, the better the optimum safety stocks can be determined. If sales forecasts are very uncertain, the associated safety stock calculations will also be inaccurate. If peaks in demand have to be expected at all times, the safety stocks must also be set correspondingly higher.<\/p>

For my baking powder stock, this basically means that I would hardly need to build up any safety stock. Normally, baking powder is always available in the store and my safety stock would only have to cover the times when stores are closed. My safety stock is obviously based less on facts than on my fear of not being able to bake waffles.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t