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Logistics & Supply Chain vocabulary · Inventory Management

Stockout

Meaning in logistics & supply chain, with examples

nounCore term

In logistics & supply chain, stockout means: A situation in which an item is completely out of stock, so orders cannot be filled or production stops until new goods arrive.

In Turkish: stoksuz kalma, stok tükenmesi

How it is used

Planners and store managers try to avoid or prevent stockouts; they measure the stockout rate and talk about the cost of a stockout. In speech, the phrase 'out of stock' is more common: 'the item is out of stock'.

Example sentences

  1. Two stockouts in one month cost us our biggest retail customer.

  2. We increased safety stock on this item to avoid another stockout during the season.

Common collocations

  • avoid a stockout
  • stockout rate
  • risk of stockouts
  • cost of a stockout
  • safety stockExtra stock kept on top of expected demand to protect against sudden increases in demand or late deliveries from suppliers.
  • backorderA customer order, or part of one, that cannot be filled now because the item is out of stock, and will be shipped when new stock arrives.
  • reorder pointThe stock level at which a new order should be placed, calculated so that the new goods arrive before the existing stock runs out.
  • inventoryAll the goods and materials a company holds at a given time, including raw materials, work in progress and finished products.
  • replenishTo fill up stock again after it has been used or sold, by ordering from suppliers or moving goods from another location.

More terms: Inventory Management

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