Title: How to Reduce Material Shortages URL: https://zudoworks.com/answers/how-to-reduce-material-shortages/ Description: How to reduce material shortages: trusted stock figures, reorder points on job-stopping items, availability checks before release and a daily PO chase. Updated: 2026-11-03 # How to reduce material shortages in a small shop Reduce material shortages by keeping stock figures the planner can trust, setting reorder points on every item that stops a job, checking material availability before a work order is released, and chasing late purchase orders every day. Most shortages trace back to a wrong stock balance, a purchase order raised too late, or a bill of materials that missed a part. By Arunkumar V, CTO · 03 November 2026 · 2 min read [Try ZMOS free](https://app.zudoworks.com/signup) [Book a 20-minute demo](https://zudoworks.com/contact/) - how to reduce material shortages - stock-outs in manufacturing - material availability check - shortage report ## Find the real cause first A shortage is a symptom. Before adding buffer stock everywhere, log each shortage for a month with its cause. The usual causes are few, and each has a different fix: cycle counts, a BOM review, a reorder point or a supplier conversation. - The ledger said the material was there but it was not, so the cause is unrecorded issues, scrap or transfers. - The material was never ordered, so the BOM was missing a line or the planner did not check availability. - The material was ordered late, so the reorder point was missing or wrong, or the lead time was underestimated. - The material arrived but failed inspection or was the wrong specification. - The material was issued to a different job that took it first. ## Check availability before release Releasing a work order should include a material check: for every BOM line, compare the required quantity against stock on hand less what is already allocated to other released jobs. If a line is short, either wait, order against that job, or release with a written note of the short line and its expected date. Say a work order for 100 brackets needs 42 kg of sheet. Stock shows 60 kg, but 35 kg is allocated to a job released yesterday, so only 25 kg is free. That job is short 17 kg and should not start cutting until the sheet is confirmed. ## Reorder points and a daily shortage review For items used on most jobs, a reorder point does the checking for you: reorder point = average daily usage × lead time in days + safety stock, using the lead time you actually experience, not the one quoted. The buyer needs to see the trigger the day it fires. Keep a short shortage list: item, job affected, quantity short, purchase order number, promised date, and who is chasing. Review it for ten minutes each morning with the buyer and the supervisor. Purchase orders past their promised date get a call that day. Items that keep appearing get their reorder point, lead time or supplier reviewed. ## How to reduce material shortages 1. **Step 1** Log every shortage for a month with the item, the job it stopped and the cause. 2. **Step 2** Fix stock accuracy first with cycle counts and by recording every issue, return, scrap and transfer. 3. **Step 3** Set reorder points on items used on most jobs, using real lead times from recent purchase orders. 4. **Step 4** Check material availability, net of allocations, before releasing each work order. 5. **Step 5** Keep a daily shortage list with purchase order numbers and promised dates, and chase late ones that day. ## Where ZMOS fits ZMOS gives the planner live stock balances per warehouse from an immutable ledger, reorder points on items, workflow rules that can fire on low stock, bills of materials with scrap allowances, and purchase orders with receipts that post stock, all in one workspace. It suits sheet-metal, machining and fabrication shops of 10 to 50 people. It does not replace the daily conversation between buyer and supervisor, and if the main problem is supplier reliability rather than visibility, software will only show the lateness sooner. See stock control in ZMOS. [What ZMOS does](https://zudoworks.com/zmos/) - [stock control in ZMOS](https://zudoworks.com/zmos/inventory/) - [purchasing in ZMOS](https://zudoworks.com/zmos/purchasing/) - [BOM and production](https://zudoworks.com/zmos/production-and-bom/) ## People also ask Short answers, each one complete on its own. ### Related answers - [How do I set reorder points for raw materials?](https://zudoworks.com/answers/how-to-set-reorder-points/) - [How do I do cycle counting in a small shop?](https://zudoworks.com/answers/how-to-do-cycle-counting/) - [What is a bill of materials?](https://zudoworks.com/answers/what-is-a-bill-of-materials/) - [What should an ERP for multiple warehouses do?](https://zudoworks.com/answers/erp-for-multiple-warehouses/) - [How do I track work in progress (WIP) on the shop floor?](https://zudoworks.com/answers/how-to-track-wip/) - [How do I print barcode job cards for the shop floor?](https://zudoworks.com/answers/how-to-print-barcode-job-cards/) - [How do I track labour hours on jobs?](https://zudoworks.com/answers/how-to-track-labour-on-jobs/) - [How do I handle scrap in production?](https://zudoworks.com/answers/how-to-handle-scrap-in-production/) - [All 54 answers](https://zudoworks.com/answers/) ### Inside ZMOS [Zudo AI](https://zudoworks.com/zudo-ai/)[Stock ledger](https://zudoworks.com/zmos/stock-ledger/)[Low-code forms and rules](https://zudoworks.com/zmos/low-code/)[Barcode job cards](https://zudoworks.com/zmos/barcode-job-cards/)[Roles, audit log, API](https://zudoworks.com/zmos/roles-audit-api/)[Security](https://zudoworks.com/zmos/security/)[Free trial](https://zudoworks.com/zmos/free-trial/)[Why Zudo Works](https://zudoworks.com/why-zudo-works/) Is holding more safety stock the answer to shortages? Only for items with long or unreliable lead times that stop production. Buffer everywhere ties up cash and hides the real causes, usually inaccurate stock figures, late ordering or missing BOM lines. Fix those first. What is a material availability check? A comparison, before a work order is released, of each BOM line's required quantity against free stock, meaning stock on hand less quantities allocated to jobs already released. Any short line is ordered, substituted or noted before the job starts. How do I stop one job taking material meant for another? Allocate material to the work order when it is released, so free stock excludes it, and issue material only against a work order number. A job card with a barcode makes the issue quick enough that operators do not skip it. Should the shortage list be in the ERP or on a whiteboard? Either, as long as it is reviewed daily. A whiteboard works for a small shop with one buyer. An ERP list is better once purchase order dates and stock figures need checking at the same time.