Skip to content

Inventory Demand

Menu Location: Products > Inventory Demand

Last Updated: 2026-07-27

Overview

The Inventory Demand page shows, for any weekly cycle, how many units of each product your customers' orders actually require, broken down by delivery day or route. It also shows how many units you have reserved against that demand, and flags products that are short.

Primary Functions:

  • View live demand for every product, calculated from actual customer orders for the selected week
  • Break demand down by delivery day or by route
  • See at a glance which products are short (an out-of-stock warning icon) or whose reserved count doesn't match demand
  • Filter by day, route, distributor, or vendor
  • Export the data as CSV or PDF to send to your distributors
  • Click into any demand number to jump straight to the customer orders behind it
  • Reorder how product categories are grouped on this page

Page Layout

  • Page title with left/right arrows to move to the previous or next weekly cycle, and the week's date
  • CSV button - downloads the currently filtered data as a spreadsheet
  • PDF button - downloads a printable PDF of product/inventory data by day
  • Wrench (tools) menu - Bulk Set In Stock, Display/Hide Case Cost, Display/Hide Description in CSV export, Set Class Display Order

Filters (Show Filters panel)

  • Day(s) - checkboxes for each active delivery day, with Select All / Unselect All
  • Route(s) - checkboxes for each delivery route, with Select All / Unselect All
  • Week - dropdown selector, defaults to the current week, plus "Go to Prev/Next Week" links
  • Case count or per? - display the daily numbers as "Per count" (default) or "Case count"
  • Distributer - narrow the list to one distributor
  • Vendor - narrow the list to one vendor
  • Descriptions - include the product description under its name
  • Column Options - show or hide the per-route columns

Active filters (day, week, distributor/vendor selected, column options, etc.) are displayed as badges above the table. If you're viewing a week other than the current one, a "Reserved Only Displayed For Current Week" badge appears, since the Reserved column is only meaningful for the active week.

Some multi-warehouse accounts also see Distribution Center and Shipping Hub filters, and a "Demand" button offering per-warehouse XLSX downloads.

Product Table

Products are grouped into sections by product category, one table per category (categories with nothing to show are hidden). Columns:

  • ! - a red warning icon appears when a product's In Stock is at or below its Reserved count (i.e. it's out of stock)
  • Distributer - the distributor(s) assigned to the product
  • Vendor - the vendor assigned to the product
  • SKU - only shown if your account has SKU tracking enabled
  • Name - the product's name (or pricesheet name), linking to its edit page; case/unit info is shown underneath
  • Pack Order - the product's print/pack sequence
  • Case Cost - optional column, toggled from the wrench menu
  • Price - retail price
  • One column per active day (or per route, if a partial route filter is applied) showing the demand quantity for that day/route - click any number to jump to the underlying customer orders
  • Total per - the week's total demand for that product; also links to the underlying orders
  • Reserved - (current week only) units already reserved against orders; a warning icon appears if this doesn't match Total per
  • Total Case - Total per divided by the product's case quantity

Exports

CSV (button) downloads the currently displayed/filtered data: Distributer, Vendor (if enabled for your account), Pricesheet Name, Name, Description (if enabled), Case QTY, Case Cost (if enabled), Units, Pack Order, Price, per-day or per-route Case/Per columns, Total Case, Total per, In Stock, and Reserved.

PDF (link) downloads a similarly formatted, printable PDF broken out by day, for the selected week and route filter.

Tools Menu (wrench icon)

  • Bulk Set In Stock - opens a dialog to set the In Stock quantity to a single number for every product currently included on the page (permanent products, active products, or products on the selected week). This updates all of them at once - it does not target one product.
  • Display/Hide Case Cost - toggles the Case Cost column
  • Display/Hide Description in CSV export - toggles whether the product description is included in the CSV
  • Set Class Display Order - opens a page to reorder how product categories are grouped, both here and in exports

To change the In Stock quantity for a single product, click its name to open the product's edit page.

Common Use Cases

Use Case 1: Checking demand before placing a distributor order

Goal: Know how much of each product to order.

Steps:

  1. Select the week you're planning for
  2. Filter to a specific Distributer or Vendor if you order from them separately
  3. Review the Total per column for each product
  4. Export to CSV or PDF and send to your distributor

Use Case 2: Finding products that are short

Goal: Catch out-of-stock items before pack day.

Steps:

  1. Select the current week
  2. Look for the red "!" icon - it flags products where In Stock is at or below Reserved
  3. Click the product name to open its edit page and update In Stock once new inventory arrives

Use Case 3: Checking for a demand/reserved mismatch

Goal: Catch cases where reserved units don't match what customer orders actually require (for example, after an order was modified after being reserved).

Steps:

  1. Select the current week
  2. Look for the red warning icon next to the Reserved column
  3. Click into the product's Total per or day columns to review the orders behind the number

Use Case 4: Reorganizing how products are grouped

Goal: Change the order product categories appear in on this page and in exports.

Steps:

  1. Open the wrench menu and choose "Set Class Display Order"
  2. Reorder the categories
  3. Return to Inventory Demand to see the new order

Troubleshooting

Demand numbers seem wrong

Check:

  1. Verify the correct week is selected
  2. Verify the Day(s) and Route(s) filters include everything you expect
  3. Confirm the product is actually on the menu for that week (set in Menu Builder)
  4. Click into the specific day/Total per number for the product - it links straight to the customer orders that make up that total, so you can see exactly what's being counted

A product shows the out-of-stock icon right after a delivery

This means In Stock is still at or below Reserved. Click the product's name to open its edit page and update its In Stock quantity, or use the wrench menu's "Bulk Set In Stock" if you need to reset the same quantity across every product on the page at once.

CSV or PDF export is missing columns I expect

Case Cost, Vendor, and Description are optional columns controlled from the wrench menu (or your account's magic SKU setting for the SKU column). Toggle the relevant option and re-export.

  • Menu Builder (build_menu.php) - configure which products are on the weekly menu (drives what shows up here)
  • Menu Inventory - distributor ordering and stock-level tool
  • Products (product_classifications_active.php) - manage the product catalog, including a product's In Stock quantity
  • Orders (cust_order.php) - the customer orders that drive every demand number on this page
  • Packing Order - sets the print order for pack labels (a separate setting from this page's Pack Order column)

Quick Reference Card

Task Action/Location
View a different week Use the prev/next arrows in the title, or the Week filter
See what's short Look for the red "!" icon
See a reserved/demand mismatch Look for the red warning icon in the Reserved column
Filter to one distributor or vendor Distributer / Vendor filter
See underlying orders for a number Click the number in a day column or Total per
Update one product's stock Click the product name to open its edit page
Update stock for everything at once Wrench menu > Bulk Set In Stock
Export data CSV or PDF buttons in the header
Show/hide Case Cost Wrench menu > Display/Hide Case Cost
Reorder product categories Wrench menu > Set Class Display Order

FAQs

Why don't I see an "In Stock" column on the page?

In Stock isn't shown as a column here - it's used to determine the out-of-stock icon and it's included in the CSV/PDF exports. To view or change it for a specific product, open the product's edit page (click its name).

Can I edit In Stock for just one product from this page?

Not directly. The wrench menu's "Bulk Set In Stock" sets one number across every product currently shown on the page - it isn't a per-product edit. For a single product, click its name to open its edit page.

What does the warning icon next to Reserved mean?

It means the Reserved count for that product doesn't match its Total per demand for the current week - worth investigating, since it can mean an order changed after the item was reserved.

Can I see which customer orders are behind a demand number?

Yes. Click any day's number or the Total per number for a product - it links to the Orders page filtered to that product, week, and day/route.

How do I add or remove a product from this page?

Products come from the weekly menu. Add or remove them in Menu Builder - they'll appear or disappear here automatically once orders are counted.

End of Documentation

For additional help, contact your system administrator or Kiva Logic support.