Overview
One of the biggest early challenges in Recurrency is a mindset shift: Planning and Purchasing are not the same — and Recurrency separates them intentionally.
Recurrency is designed to help you move from reactive, spreadsheet-driven replenishment to a proactive, intelligent planning process. That means Planning focuses entirely on setting smart, forward-looking targets — like optimal reorder points and order quantities — based on forecasted demand, supplier behavior, and economic inputs.
At this stage, net stock or availability doesn’t matter yet. You're designing what should happen. When it’s time to purchase — whether inside Recurrency or your ERP — those planned Min/Maxes are compared against your real-time net stock. That’s when decisions are made about what to buy and when.
Let’s break down how each phase works, and how Recurrency keeps them in sync so you can stay ahead of demand with confidence.
📊 Planning: Set the Right Targets, Stay Ahead of Demand
Planning in Recurrency is all about answering:
When should I reorder this item?
How much should I have on hand to meet future demand?
How do I stay ahead of changes in usage or supplier behavior?
Unlike traditional methods, you’re not reacting to today’s net stock — you’re planning based on what your future should look like. We like to think of it as identifying the ideal state: what the Min (reorder point) and Max (target stock level) should be, based on forecasted demand, supplier constraints, and item behavior.
Once set, Recurrency continuously monitors these targets and flags items for Needs Review whenever there’s a significant change — such as:
A shift in demand patterns (e.g. seasonality or trend changes)
A change in supplier lead time or reliability
Sudden spikes or dips in velocity
This means Planning isn’t a one-and-done exercise. It’s a living process: your Min/Max values evolve as your business evolves. Recurrency helps you stay proactive and ensures your replenishment strategies always reflect current realities.
🚧 That said, it’s easy to fall into old habits when reviewing recommendations!
Sometimes when reviewing a Min/Max recommendation in Recurrency, your instinct might be to think, “Oh, it’s recommending 5 and 10 because I already have 20 in stock.” But that would be a misunderstanding of how Recurrency works:
Our Min/Max recommendations don’t take your current stock into account — they’re based entirely on item behavior, forecasted demand, supplier lead times, and economic inputs.
Another common point of confusion: Recurrency’s Min/Maxes aren’t static. You might be looking at a lower recommendation this month simply because forecasted usage is low. But if that item is seasonal and demand is expected to rise next month, Recurrency will generate a higher Min/Max when that new forecast kicks in.
That’s why it’s important to view Min/Max recommendations as living targets, not permanent rules. As your forecast, safety stock, or lead time inputs change — so will our recommendations. Accepting a Recurrency Min/Max is always about aligning to current conditions. And when those conditions change, we’ll prompt you to review the item again.
✅ Proactive Planning enables you to:
Stay stocked without overstocking
Reduce firefighting and manual reviews
Set up smart automation for ongoing changes
Catch supplier or usage issues before they impact operations
🛒 Purchasing: Know What to Buy, When to Buy It
Once your Planning is dialed in, Purchasing becomes far more straightforward.
Purchasing in Recurrency (or in your ERP) is about:
Comparing your current net stock to your smart Min/Max targets
Automatically surfacing items that need to be reordered
Creating accurate, timely purchase orders
Recurrency does this work for you: it calculates whether your stock position has dropped below the Min (reorder point) and recommends a quantity to bring you up to the Max (target stock level). Because they’re grounded in your unique planning inputs, these recommendations aren’t one-size-fits-all — they’re built for your business.
You can review and create POs inside Recurrency or do this in your ERP — but either way, the intelligence behind what to buy lives in Recurrency.
🧩 Recap: Planning vs. Purchasing
| Planning | Purchasing |
Goal | Set smart reorder points and target stock levels | Identify what to reorder based on current stock |
Focus | Future demand, supplier behavior, proactive adjustments | Today’s net stock vs. smart thresholds |
Timing | Ahead of time — constantly refined | Daily/weekly — based on real-time conditions |
Done in | Recurrency | Recurrency or your ERP |
🔄 Why This Matters
By separating Planning and Purchasing, Recurrency helps you:
Think strategically: Make replenishment decisions based on real business drivers.
Stay in control: Surface only the exceptions and items that truly need attention.
Reduce waste: Fewer emergency orders, less excess inventory, better supplier alignment.
Build trust: Easily see how decisions are driven by data and adapted as conditions evolve.