Multiple Stock — Inventory Control Basics | multiplestock.com
Class your items by annual usage value, then set a count frequency per class so counting effort follows the money.
ABC analysis ranks items by annual usage value: multiply annual units sold by cost per unit for every SKU, sort descending, and cut the bands. Class A is typically about 10-20 percent of items covering 70-80 percent of the value, class B the next 20-30 percent of items, and class C the remainder.
Worked example over 20 SKUs: sort the 20 items by annual usage value. The top 3 items, roughly 15 percent of the list, together cover about 74 percent of total value, so they are class A. The next 6 items, 30 percent of the list, add about 18 percent and form class B. The remaining 11 items, 55 percent of the list, share the last 8 percent and are class C.
On narrow screens, swipe or scroll the plate sideways.
The bands are typical, not fixed. If your top 4 items reach 78 percent of value, take 4 as class A; if the top 2 already reach 68 percent, the boundary sits between item 2 and item 3. The rule is the value share, not a fixed item count.
Count frequency follows the class. Cycle counting counts a small share of items on a rolling schedule instead of closing the shop for one annual count, and A items are counted most often. For the 20-SKU example: count the 3 class A items weekly, the 6 class B items monthly, and the 11 class C items quarterly.
Revisit the ranking when annual demand or cost per unit shifts materially. A class C item that doubles in usage value moves up a band and deserves a tighter count and a reviewed reorder point; see the reorder point and EOQ page for how to set that trigger.
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