Or, how to tweak inputs when your min/max recommendations need a nudge.
Before diving into adjustments, it’s worth revisiting our previous If-Then Guidelines—where we introduced the concept of a hero metric. Whether your top priority is higher fill rates, faster inventory turns, or lower inventory costs, your configuration should align with that goal.
But once that strategic direction is set, you may still wonder “What input should I change if I want to adjust a specific recommendation?” This article is your tactical cheat sheet.
Core Inputs That Influence Recommendations
In Recurrency, your replenishment recommendations are driven by five key inputs. Three can be adjusted directly by planners, while two are typically set at the Leadership or Admin level.
Inputs Planners can adjust:
Lead Time
Safety Stock
Order Cycle
Inputs set by Leadership/Admins:
Replenishment Costs
Holding Costs
These inputs work together to calculate your Min (or Order Point) and Max, which determine when to reorder and how much to order. The cheat sheet below shows how each input impacts your Min or Max recommendations.
Example Scenarios
Here are a few examples that you may encounter—and the levers you can pull:
✅ Scenario 1: Min feels too low, but Max looks right
What’s going on: You’re comfortable with how much Recurrency is recommending you order (Max), but the system may be waiting too long before triggering that reorder (Min). Recurrency calculates Min using demand during lead time, safety stock, and the order cycle—which represents how long you typically wait to reorder from a supplier after receiving a PO. While these calculations are meant to prevent stockouts, we understand that operational preferences or real-world nuances sometimes call for a higher Min.
What to check or tweak:
🔧 Order Cycle – Try increasing it.
A longer order cycle tells Recurrency you tend to wait longer between reorders, so it adjusts the Min upward to cover a slightly longer range of forecasted demand. This gives you more buffer before a reorder is triggered—without affecting the Max.Conversely, if your Min feels too high but Max is fine, try decreasing the order cycle to lower the reorder point.
⚠️ Keep in mind:
Order cycle is set at the supplier-location level, not at the individual item level. So changing it affects all items ordered from that supplier at that location—not just the one you're reviewing.
✅ Scenario 2: Max seems excessive
What’s going on: Recurrency is recommending a larger order than you’d typically prefer to place or hold. This is often due to bulk replenishment logic designed to optimize for cost efficiency.
What to check or tweak:
💡 Why Recurrency is making this recommendation:
The system likely calculated that ordering in bulk makes economic sense. If the item is inexpensive, has steady demand, and is cheap to store, Recurrency may recommend a higher Max to minimize the frequency of reordering. This is based on your company’s replenishment cost vs. holding cost trade-offs—inputs set by your leadership team.If Maxes across the board feel consistently too high, this could indicate a need to revisit these cost settings. Connect with your Customer Success Manager to share feedback—adjusting replenishment or holding costs may help recalibrate the recommendations.
🛠 Managing one-off exceptions:
If just one item seems off, you can override its Max. When you do, Recurrency will automatically exclude it from Needs Review alerts for one month (or longer if you choose), so it doesn’t keep flagging as an exception while you monitor it.
✅ Scenario 2: Both Min and Max feel too low
What’s going on:
You’re seeing recommendations that feel too lean across the board—you're reordering too late (Min), and not ordering enough when you do (Max). In Recurrency, both Min and Max are shaped by lead time, safety stock, and order cycle. So when both values feel too low, safety stock is typically the right input to adjust.
What to check/tweak:
🧩 Safety Stock – Try increasing it. Safety stock is your buffer against uncertainty—whether that’s demand variability, small supplier hiccups, or operational delays. Raising it will increase both your reorder point (Min) and your reorder quantity (Max), giving you more breathing room in your planning.
The reverse is also true:
If you’re seeing both Min and Max consistently come in too high—you're holding more than you’d like across the board—it may be time to decrease safety stock. This will reduce both values and tighten up your on-hand levels. Just make sure the lower buffer still protects you against variability in demand or lead time.
Why not just change Lead Time?
Lead time also impacts both Min and Max, but it should only be adjusted when you know something about the supplier that Recurrency doesn’t—like a temporary shipping delay or ongoing supply chain issues.
Bottom line:
If demand is less predictable than expected or you're uncomfortable with how tight the current buffer feels, safety stock is the lever designed for exactly that. Use it to build more protection into your planning.
Putting It All Together
The chart below summarizes the three most common replenishment feedback loops we see from planners—and the inputs you can adjust to address them. Whether your Mins feel too low, your Maxes seem excessive, or both values are consistently off, this guide helps you pinpoint which lever to pull and why.
Use it as a quick reference when tuning recommendations to better match your planning instincts.
Your replenishment strategy should be deliberate. Start with your hero metric, but use this cheat sheet to make precise, confident adjustments when your Min or Max doesn’t look quite right. And remember: all these inputs are meant to reflect your real-world operations. The more accurate and intentional they are, the smarter your recommendations will be.