{"id":22427,"date":"2019-08-26T14:13:22","date_gmt":"2019-08-26T14:13:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/stageres.blueridgeglobal.com?p=22427"},"modified":"2025-09-15T19:02:33","modified_gmt":"2025-09-15T23:02:33","slug":"11-point-checklist-for-perishable-inventory-management","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blueridgeglobal.com\/blog\/11-point-checklist-for-perishable-inventory-management\/","title":{"rendered":"11-Point Checklist for Perishable Inventory Management"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"attachment_22429\" style=\"width: 430px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><a href=\"https:\/\/blueridgeglobal.com\/wholesale-distribution-software\/foodservice-distribution-inventory-optimization\/?nocache=lkjadf234\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-22429\" class=\"wp-image-22429 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/blueridgeglobal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/PerishableGoods_018948.jpg\" alt=\"perishable-order-management\" width=\"420\" height=\"420\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blueridgeglobal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/PerishableGoods_018948.jpg 420w, https:\/\/blueridgeglobal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/PerishableGoods_018948-300x300.jpg 300w, https:\/\/blueridgeglobal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/PerishableGoods_018948-150x150.jpg 150w, https:\/\/blueridgeglobal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/PerishableGoods_018948-100x100.jpg 100w, https:\/\/blueridgeglobal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/PerishableGoods_018948-140x140.jpg 140w, https:\/\/blueridgeglobal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/PerishableGoods_018948-350x350.jpg 350w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 420px) 100vw, 420px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-22429\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Learn more about Perishable Order Management solutions for wholesale foodservice distribution<\/p><\/div>\n<p>Today\u2019s consumers are busier and more health conscious. They want fresh grocery delivery, meal kits and even temperature-sensitive products like pharmaceuticals.<\/p>\n<p>Several retail trends are making it difficult for distributors to manage perishable inventory in a profitable way:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Fresh product segments such as produce, eggs, refrigerated meat and poultry, and freshly prepared foods have grown much faster than frozen foods<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/thebossmagazine.com\/cold-storage\/\">70 percent<\/a> of consumers will grocery shop online within the next 5-7 years<\/li>\n<li>Ecommerce giants continue shorten the shipping window for perishable items<\/li>\n<li>Cold storage is not cheap: it can be up to <a href=\"https:\/\/thebossmagazine.com\/cold-storage\/\">2x more expensive<\/a> to build a refrigerated facility over a conventional warehouse<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>The financial volatility of this is huge.<\/p>\n<p><strong>The secret to overcoming time decay and product shortages related to <a href=\"https:\/\/quickbooks.intuit.com\/ca\/resources\/inventory\/what-is-perishable-inventory-management\/\" class=\"broken_link\">perishable inventory management<\/a> is to put a much deeper degree of analysis behind your replenishment cycles and schedules.<\/strong><\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_22822\" style=\"width: 160px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><a href=\"https:\/\/blueridgeglobal.com\/wholesale-distribution-software\/foodservice-distribution-inventory-optimization\/\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-22822\" class=\"size-thumbnail wp-image-22822\" src=\"https:\/\/blueridgeglobal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/perishable-mgmt-150x150.png\" alt=\"wholesale-foodservice-distribution-inventory-optimization\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blueridgeglobal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/perishable-mgmt-150x150.png 150w, https:\/\/blueridgeglobal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/perishable-mgmt-300x300.png 300w, https:\/\/blueridgeglobal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/perishable-mgmt-768x768.png 768w, https:\/\/blueridgeglobal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/perishable-mgmt-100x100.png 100w, https:\/\/blueridgeglobal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/perishable-mgmt-140x140.png 140w, https:\/\/blueridgeglobal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/perishable-mgmt-500x500.png 500w, https:\/\/blueridgeglobal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/perishable-mgmt-350x350.png 350w, https:\/\/blueridgeglobal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/perishable-mgmt.png 800w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-22822\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Additional resources for wholesale food and foodservice distribution<\/p><\/div>\n<p>Advanced <a href=\"https:\/\/blueridgeglobal.com\/wholesale-distribution-software\/foodservice-distribution-inventory-optimization\/\">inventory optimization tools<\/a> are available to profitably replenish your perishable inventory and help standardize your perishable ordering for maximum user efficiency, top-line revenue and profitability. These forecasting systems enable buyers to easily replenish perishable inventory multiple times per week, adapt quickly to new trends, plan for seasonality, accurately calculate safety stock, accommodate varying lead times, manage product dating and visualize expiration data, understand cost constraints and more.<\/p>\n<p>Are you excited or what? We thought so. But before you set out to identify which perishable inventory management solution is best, here are our <strong>11 must-have features<\/strong> and why you need them:<\/p>\n<p><strong>1:\u00a0 Demand Classification<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>If you want the best possible prediction of future demand, you\u2019ll need to classify demand properly. Demand classification technology analyzes your SKUs and puts them in the proper classifications \u2013 such as continuous sellers, seasonal, intermittent, lumpy, slow moving, etc. \u2013 using demand attributes like volume and volatility. Your users can then leverage these in selecting forecast models and creating seasonal a forecast adjustment.<\/p>\n<p><strong>2:\u00a0 Fresh Produce Forecast<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Make sure your perishable order management solution offers multiple sophisticated forecast model options. Because short-term trends come and go quickly in perishable sales, sometimes it\u2019s best to use a forecast model that has a demand history duration which the buyer can control by SKU. This Fresh Produce Forecast feature makes it super-simple to change the demand history component and re-forecast as needed, on the fly.<\/p>\n<p><strong>\u00a0<\/strong><strong>3:\u00a0 Daily Demand Profiles <\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Certain products (especially produce and protein) have demand that is cyclical within the week. Daily Demand Profiles allow you to describe what the demand cycle for these items will look like (i.e., highest and lowest days of the week, etc.), so that the system can more accurately allocate inventory across the week. For you this means increased turns, far less spoilage, and better service for your customer.<\/p>\n<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/blueridgeglobal.com\/blog\/the-growing-list-of-surprisingly-seasonal-items\/\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft wp-image-22430 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/blueridgeglobal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/Perishable-seasonality.jpg\" alt=\"seasonal-demand-forecasting\" width=\"420\" height=\"420\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blueridgeglobal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/Perishable-seasonality.jpg 420w, https:\/\/blueridgeglobal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/Perishable-seasonality-300x300.jpg 300w, https:\/\/blueridgeglobal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/Perishable-seasonality-150x150.jpg 150w, https:\/\/blueridgeglobal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/Perishable-seasonality-100x100.jpg 100w, https:\/\/blueridgeglobal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/Perishable-seasonality-140x140.jpg 140w, https:\/\/blueridgeglobal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/Perishable-seasonality-350x350.jpg 350w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 420px) 100vw, 420px\" \/><\/a>4:\u00a0 Advanced Seasonality <\/strong><\/p>\n<p>A lot of planning solutions claim to \u201cdo\u201d seasonality. Make sure when they say it\u2019s \u201cadvanced,\u201d it truly is. How do you know?<\/p>\n<p>Industry-leading seasonal forecast adjustment planning solutions can identify year-over-year <a href=\"https:\/\/blueridgeglobal.com\/blog\/the-growing-list-of-surprisingly-seasonal-items\/\">seasonal demand patterns<\/a>, apply goodness of fit and pattern matching analysis, along with forecast accuracy back testing. This ensures that any seasonal profile adjustments you make are <em>actually improving<\/em> the forecast.<\/p>\n<p><strong>5:\u00a0 Safety Stock Optimization<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Safety stock in advanced perishable order management systems is calculated automatically for each item, in each location. A Cost-of-Service Analysis tool lets you simulate your safety stock costs for all of your SKUs using different criteria and metrics.<\/p>\n<p>Without Safety Stock Optimization for perishable items, buffer inventory calculations are skewed. That\u2019s because they are based on service-level needs only\u2026 which results in Days on Hand being too high\u2026 which results in product spoilage. [Here&#8217;s a useful article on what causes safety stock and <a href=\"https:\/\/blueridgeglobal.com\/blog\/a-surprising-strategy-to-reduce-inventory\/\">how to reduce inventory levels<\/a>].<\/p>\n<p>You can determine safety stock by comparing not only service level, but also:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Demand &amp; demand variability,<\/li>\n<li>Lead-time &amp; lead-time variability,<\/li>\n<li>Order cycle (the time between orders), and<\/li>\n<li>Order size (convenience pack, master pack, etc.)<\/li>\n<li>Additionally, your buyers should have easy access to manual safety stock minimum\/maximum overrides by SKU<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>6:\u00a0 Dynamic Order Cycle<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Purchasing perishables more frequently \u2013 typically multiple times a week \u2013 increases turns while achieving optimally high fill rates with minimum inventory on-hand, thereby reducing exposure to spoilage. That\u2019s the homerun for today\u2019s buyers, right? Problem is, most systems require the buyer to select the order cycle using:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>The lowest day between orders to minimize inventory,<\/li>\n<li>The greatest number of days between orders to protect service, or<\/li>\n<li>An average of the days between orders in an effort to <a href=\"https:\/\/blueridgeglobal.com\/inventory-optimization\/\">optimize both inventory and service<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3>Let\u2019s say a supplier is scheduled to be ordered on Tuesdays + Thursdays. That\u2019s 2 days between, so you select &#8216;2 days&#8217; as the order cycle. There are 5 days between Thurs and the following Tues. Here&#8217;s the problem:<\/h3>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/blueridgeglobal.com\/blog\/11-point-checklist-for-perishable-order-management\/\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft wp-image-22428 size-large\" src=\"https:\/\/blueridgeglobal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/perishable-order-sidebar-1024x311.png\" alt=\"perishable-order-cycle\" width=\"696\" height=\"211\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blueridgeglobal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/perishable-order-sidebar-1024x311.png 1024w, https:\/\/blueridgeglobal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/perishable-order-sidebar-300x91.png 300w, https:\/\/blueridgeglobal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/perishable-order-sidebar-768x233.png 768w, https:\/\/blueridgeglobal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/perishable-order-sidebar.png 1400w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 696px) 100vw, 696px\" \/><\/a>Dynamic Order Cycle allows you to identify the order cycles correctly as 2 days and 5 days. The system automatically handles uneven ordering by adjusting each day\u2019s order cycle to cover the number of days until the next scheduled order.<\/p>\n<p>When used with Lead Time Day of Week, a buyer can automatically handle an uneven receipt pattern by adjusting each day\u2019s order cycle to cover the number of days between receipts.<\/p>\n<p><strong>7:\u00a0 Lead Time Day of Week<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>A natural part of multiple orders and receipts per week is the need to automatically accommodate different lead times per order. Especially in today\u2019s international trade arena where lead times can be anyone\u2019s guess. Make sure your perishable order management solution provides SKU-level Lead Time Day-of-Week, which can be synchronized with multiple order cycles within each week.<\/p>\n<p><strong>8:\u00a0 Scheduled Order Cycle Alert<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>With some suppliers, you may not have the choice of using the most financially optimal order cycle \u2013 maybe for negotiation reasons or perhaps to accommodate facility logistics. A buyer may need to use a scheduled order cycle, such as the rule that a particular supplier order must happen on Monday and Thursday.<\/p>\n<p>Scheduled Order Cycle Alerts prompt the buyer on the day the supplier is scheduled for purchase. They also tell whether the supplier has hit a service level need, but the \u2018requested\u2019 purchase date has not been reached. This is a key differentiator between various <a href=\"https:\/\/blueridgeglobal.com\/wholesale-distribution-software\/foodservice-distribution-inventory-optimization\/\">perishable order management systems<\/a> on the market \u2013 and is a prime strategy to for ensuring you can meet service expectations for your customers.<\/p>\n<p><strong><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft wp-image-22431 size-medium\" src=\"https:\/\/blueridgeglobal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/meat-exp-date-e1566834056903-300x197.png\" alt=\"track-shelf-life-product-dates\" width=\"300\" height=\"197\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blueridgeglobal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/meat-exp-date-e1566834056903-300x197.png 300w, https:\/\/blueridgeglobal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/meat-exp-date-e1566834056903-768x505.png 768w, https:\/\/blueridgeglobal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/meat-exp-date-e1566834056903.png 800w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/>9:\u00a0 Shelf Life Constraints<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The dating of product is extremely important for dairy, produce and protein buyers. Shelf life control times allow you to purchase quantities so that you can control the max days on hand (at the DC or store), while still allowing the consumer to have needed dating\/days on the product.<\/p>\n<p>Also, if you track product expiration date codes in your host system, your perishable order management system should integrate seamlessly with your system to display that info prominently on the SKU order detail.<\/p>\n<p><strong>10:\u00a0 Item-Level Cost Control<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Item-Level Cost Control is a feature that enables the solution to understand specific cost constraints associated with carrying or purchasing an item. Perishable items would typically have a higher carrying cost associated with them because of the \u2018spoilage\u2019 potential. By increasing the carrying cost at the item level, your perishable order management system understands even more clearly that <a href=\"https:\/\/blueridgeglobal.com\/inventory-optimization\/reduce-inventory-costs\/\">carrying too much inventory is expensive<\/a> (i.e., spoilage cost) and, therefore, not profitable.<\/p>\n<p><strong>11:\u00a0 Out-Before-Delivery Logic<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Finally, every perishable order management system should consider <em>potential out-of-stock<\/em> for items that have already been ordered but are in a \u2018need\u2019 status. So \u2018On Order Quantity\u2019 plus Suggested Order Quantity\/due for service need.<\/p>\n<p>The calculation looks like this: days on hand compared to the lead time of the item. This allows the buyer to see potential out-of-stocks in the upcoming days or weeks and gives them the opportunity to alternate between suppliers (or transfer between DCs or stores).<\/p>\n<p>Days on hand is directly affected by the shelf life of an item&#8230; So even short lead-time suppliers could have their lines in a potential out-of-stock position without the Out-Before-Delivery Logic feature.<\/p>\n<p>We hope this checklist has been useful.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Learn more about <a href=\"https:\/\/blueridgeglobal.com\/product\/replenishment-planning\/\">perishable order management solutions<\/a> for foodservice distribution<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Got questions? Reach out to us or check out these additional inventory optimization resources:<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_22823\" style=\"width: 160px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><a href=\"https:\/\/blueridgeglobal.com\/wholesale-distribution-software\/foodservice-distribution-inventory-optimization\/\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-22823\" class=\"wp-image-22823 size-thumbnail\" src=\"https:\/\/blueridgeglobal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/tomatoes-150x150.png\" alt=\"foodservice-distribution-inventory-optimization\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blueridgeglobal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/tomatoes-150x150.png 150w, https:\/\/blueridgeglobal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/tomatoes-100x100.png 100w, https:\/\/blueridgeglobal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/tomatoes-140x140.png 140w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-22823\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Inventory optimization solutions for wholesale food &amp; foodservice distributors<\/p><\/div>\n<div id=\"attachment_22570\" style=\"width: 160px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><a href=\"https:\/\/blueridgeglobal.com\/blog\/never-take-your-eyes-off-this-demand-forecasting-metric\/\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-22570\" class=\"wp-image-22570 size-thumbnail\" src=\"https:\/\/blueridgeglobal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/inventory-analytics-3-150x150.jpg\" alt=\"demand-forecasting-metric\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blueridgeglobal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/inventory-analytics-3-150x150.jpg 150w, https:\/\/blueridgeglobal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/inventory-analytics-3-300x300.jpg 300w, https:\/\/blueridgeglobal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/inventory-analytics-3-100x100.jpg 100w, https:\/\/blueridgeglobal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/inventory-analytics-3-140x140.jpg 140w, https:\/\/blueridgeglobal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/inventory-analytics-3-350x350.jpg 350w, https:\/\/blueridgeglobal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/inventory-analytics-3.jpg 400w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-22570\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Never Take Your Eyes Off This Demand Forecasting Metric<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Today\u2019s consumers are busier and more health conscious. They want fresh grocery delivery, meal kits and even temperature-sensitive products like pharmaceuticals. Several retail trends are making it difficult for distributors&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":36,"featured_media":28256,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[63],"tags":[48,49,61],"scp_topic":[185],"sector":[180],"technology":[177],"class_list":{"0":"post-22427","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-blog","8":"tag-inventory-optimization","9":"tag-supply-chain-planning","10":"tag-sustainability","11":"industry-generic","12":"scp_topic-generic","13":"sector-generic","14":"technology-generic"},"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blueridgeglobal.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22427","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blueridgeglobal.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blueridgeglobal.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blueridgeglobal.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/36"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blueridgeglobal.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=22427"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/blueridgeglobal.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22427\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":37058,"href":"https:\/\/blueridgeglobal.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22427\/revisions\/37058"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blueridgeglobal.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/28256"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blueridgeglobal.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22427"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blueridgeglobal.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22427"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blueridgeglobal.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22427"},{"taxonomy":"scp_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blueridgeglobal.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/scp_topic?post=22427"},{"taxonomy":"sector","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blueridgeglobal.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/sector?post=22427"},{"taxonomy":"technology","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blueridgeglobal.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/technology?post=22427"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}