Pharmacy reorder points: Will your last 30 packs cover the week?

Your wholesaler now takes seven days to deliver instead of two. You still place the order when the shelf gets down to 30 packs. At ten packs a day, that used to leave you with ten packs when the driver arrived. Now the shelf will be empty after day three.

Each pack costs 200 in your local currency. You’re open every day, all 30 packs are available to sell, and the next delivery will be ready to sell after seven full trading days. How much stock would you need to find before then?

In a usual week, you’re 40 packs short

At ten packs a day, customers will need about 70 packs over the week. You have 30, leaving a gap of 40 packs. At your usual purchase price, those packs would cost 8,000.

That figure tells you how much cash to allow if another approved supplier can deliver the shortfall at the same price. If the supplier charges extra for an urgent delivery, add that cost to the quote. Lost profit would be a separate calculation.

In a quieter week, the same shelf is still 19 packs short

Suppose your quieter weeks average seven packs a day. Seven days of demand comes to 49 packs. After using the 30 on hand, you would still need 19 packs, costing 3,800 at the same price.

Before choosing the quieter estimate, check why sales were lower. If the pharmacy sold seven packs a day while the item was available throughout, that week gives you a useful comparison. If the shelf stood empty for part of it, the till could only record what you had left to sell.

What to change on the next order

If ten packs a day is the better estimate, contact the wholesaler while you still have three days of cover. Ask whether they can bring 40 packs forward from the existing order. Confirm when those packs can reach the shelf. An extra carton arriving on day seven still leaves the first six days exactly as they were.

For future orders, if you check this item daily and want to keep your previous ten-pack reserve, set the reorder point at 80 packs. That gives you 70 for the expected wait and ten in reserve. Use 80 as the signal to review and place the order, checking what is already on its way before deciding how much to buy.

Before your next supplier call, pick one regular seller. Count its usable packs and estimate how many customers will need before the next confirmed delivery. If demand exceeds what you can supply in time, multiply the missing packs by their purchase cost. You can then make a specific request: “We need 40 packs before day four. Can you deliver them at 200 each?”