Min Stock and Reorder Points for Service Vans

Van min is a day or two, not a month

A van min of 12 capacitors means you are using the truck as a warehouse. Set van mins to survive tomorrow and maybe the next day. Let the shop hold the depth.

If restock happens nightly, van mins can be lean. If restock happens whenever someone is angry, van mins have to be fatter — or you should fix restock.

Warehouse min is lead time plus weather

If the vendor takes two days, the warehouse min must cover two busy days. In July, two busy HVAC days are not two January days. Change the number with the season.

A static min is how you stock out in a heat wave with a “healthy” report from April.

Zero is a valid min

Specialty parts should sit at zero on vans. When you need one, transfer it. A min of 1 on a $400 board times ten vans is $4,000 of hope.

Courage is leaving the min at zero. Fear is cloning safety stock onto every windshield.

The reorder report must be short

If it has 200 rows, your mins are fantasy. Tighten until the daily report is a work list a human will actually buy against. Then create the PO from that list, not from a counter conversation.

FleetStock reorders exist to be that short list. If it is long, the data is begging you to edit mins, not to hire another buyer.

Review mins on a calendar, not in a crisis

First Monday of the month. Season changes. After a new service offering. Those are min-stock meetings. A crisis meeting is too late — you are already at the supply house.

Bring usage data. Leave opinions in the hallway. The loudest tech does not get a higher min unless the scans agree.

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