In this guide 6 sections
Material runs short because the bill of materials was checked once, at quoting, and no stock was set aside for the job. Other jobs consumed it meanwhile. Reserve quantities against the job at release, add a scrap allowance for kerf and nesting, and compare the shortfall with open purchase orders before the first cut is made.
The bill of materials was checked, then forgotten
At quoting, someone read the drawing, listed the sheet, angle, fasteners and bought-out hinges, and priced the job against that week’s supplier rates. That list was right on the day. The order arrived two weeks later and the list sat in a folder, and welded frames, brackets and guards all suffer the same way.
By release the shelf looks different. A cutting job drew down the same 10 mm plate, and a rush order took the last box of M12 bolts. Nobody told the planner. Nothing tied stock to the job.
The shortage shows up at the saw. The operator waits. The machine idles. Nobody can start.
- Quoting list never revised after the order
- Stock visible but not reserved
- Offcuts counted as usable when they are not
- Purchase raised after the shortage, not before
Find the three gaps behind most shortages
The first gap is timing, since the list was checked against stock on the quote date and not the release date. The second is allowance, since bar needs a parting width, sheet needs a nesting margin and tube needs a trim at both ends.
Sheet metal shops see it with 2 mm mild steel, where a different supplier’s thickness tolerance changes how many blanks nest on a sheet. The third gap is substitution, where the store issues a nearby grade to one job and the later job finds none of the specified grade left.
A fabricator who buys angle in six-metre lengths feels this one most, because a substituted section leaves an odd remnant nobody can use. Take the last ten shortages and tag each as timing, allowance or substitution, then count them so the largest tally shows which gap to close first.
Reserve stock at release, not at quoting
At release, convert the list into a reservation. Plate, bar, sheet and bought-out parts are then held for that job, and every other job sees a lower free balance.
Reservation moves nothing. It only stops two jobs from counting the same plate, and the store keeps the stock on the rack until the job card calls for it. Bearings, hinges and gaskets deserve identical treatment, since their lead time is longer than the cutting time and a missing one halts assembly after the frame is welded.
If free stock cannot cover the reservation, the shortfall shows at release, while there is still time to order from the mill or the stockist. That is the whole point.
- Job number against each line item
- Required quantity with scrap allowance
- Free balance after other reservations
- Date the material is needed at the first operation
Add allowance and offcut rules to the list
Set a cutting allowance per material, such as saw kerf per cut or nesting margin per sheet, and apply it when the list is built, not after the shortage. Weld wire, gas and grinding discs can stay on a minimum-stock rule, because tracking them per job costs more than it saves.
Decide which offcuts count as stock. A 150 mm strip of sheet is scrap for most jobs, while a 1.2 m bar end may serve the next order. Write the minimum usable size beside each material, ask the store to tag what qualifies, and keep tagged remnants on a separate rack away from full lengths.
Check the shortage list every morning
Each morning, open the jobs due in the next five working days and compare reservations against receipts expected, so the gaps become the purchase list for the day. Print it. Ask the storekeeper to tick each line.
Once reservations exist, this takes ten minutes. Keep the habit for a fortnight, then count the mid-job stoppages that remain at the saw and press brake, and compare it with the earlier tally. Start with the next job released. Share the shortage list with purchase and with the planner, so that a late truck moves a start date before it stops a machine.
Release-time material check sheet
One row per material line. Columns cover job number, item, grade or size, required quantity, scrap allowance, free stock, reserved stock, shortfall and date needed. A header block records the release date and who checked it, and a footer lists the purchase actions raised against any shortfall.
Open a blank worksheet to printQuestions owners ask
Is reserving stock the same as issuing it?
No. A reservation holds quantity on paper so that no other job can count it, and it leaves the plate or bar on the rack. Issuing is a later step, which the store performs when it hands plate or bar to the floor against a job card and updates the stock balance.
What if the quoting list is wrong?
Revise the list at release and note the changes. The differences between quote and release lists show where estimating needs correcting, for example a bracket that always needs a thicker plate than the drawing suggests.
Do small fasteners need reservation too?
Track them when a shortage would stop assembly, such as a special hinge or a bearing with a long lead time. Common consumables such as weld wire, gas and grinding discs can use a minimum stock level instead of per-job reservation, which saves the store from counting every spool.
How early should the shortage check run?
At release, and again each morning for jobs due within the week, because the first check catches planning gaps while the second catches receipts that slipped. Examples are a truck that never arrived and a mill certificate rejected at goods inward, which no planner could have seen at release.