What is the Ordering dashboard?
Ordering is your daily starting point in Papaya Inventory. Every morning, it tells you which ingredients need to be ordered today, how much to order, and roughly what it will cost — so you can place orders before a shortage turns into a stockout.
Why it matters
Stockouts cost twice: once in lost sales when you can't serve a dish, and again in emergency top-up orders at worse prices. The Ordering dashboard replaces end-of-day guesswork and ingredient-by-ingredient walks through the kitchen with a single, prioritised list driven by your actual usage.
The six numbers at the top
Stat | What it means |
Out of Stock | The number of ingredients at zero right now. These need attention first — you cannot produce any dish that depends on them. |
Low Stock | The number of ingredients above zero but at or below the reorder point you set. Your early-warning line — order soon. |
Avg Days of Stock | Across all ingredients, the average number of days of supply remaining at your current usage rate. A value of 4 means "at today's pace, we'd run out of the average ingredient in 4 days." |
Inventory Value | The total value of stock currently on hand (current stock × last purchase price). Your working capital sitting in the kitchen. |
Est. Reorder Cost | An estimate of how much it will cost to top everything that's low or out of stock back up to par level. |
Expiring Before Used | The number of ingredients where the stock on hand will likely expire before it gets used, based on shelf life and average usage. |
The three % versions of these stats (% Out of Stock, % Low Stock, % Expiring) put the same information in context — how big a share of your total product list is currently at risk.
The "What to Order" table
This is the main event. It's your daily ordering checklist — one row per ingredient, sorted by urgency (lowest days of stock first). Each row has everything you need to decide: what's in stock, how fast it's moving, what to top up to, and which supplier to call.
Column Overview
Column | What it tells you |
Current Stock | Units on hand right now. 🔴 means out of stock; 🟡 means below reorder point. |
Days Remaining | The single most actionable column. "0.8 days" means you'll run out tomorrow. Sort by this to see urgency. |
Par Level | The stock level you aim to reset to when ordering. |
Reorder Point | Below this, you should be ordering. |
Suggested Order | How much to order today to get back to par. Calculated as: par level minus current stock (never negative). |
Last Ordered | When this ingredient was last received. Helps avoid duplicate orders. |
Avg Lead Time | Typical days between order and delivery for this product and supplier, taken from your history. |
Supplier | The last supplier you ordered from. |
Supplier Price | The latest price per unit you paid. |
Est. Order Cost | Suggested order × latest price — the cost of this one line item. |
How the suggestion is calculated
The simple rule:
💡 Suggested order = Par level − Current stock (never below zero)
So if your par level for tomatoes is 10 kg and you have 3 kg on hand, the suggestion is 7 kg.
Average daily usage (used to calculate Days Remaining) is based on the last 28 days of menu item sales multiplied by recipe quantities.
Worked example
Your par level for fresh basil is 2 kg. You have 0.6 kg left. Average daily usage is 0.4 kg. Latest price is ฿250/kg.
Days Remaining: 0.6 ÷ 0.4 = 1.5 days
Suggested Order: 2 − 0.6 = 1.4 kg
Est. Order Cost: 1.4 × 250 = ฿350
How to act on it
Every morning: open the dashboard, scan the top stats, and work down the table from the top until you've reviewed every row with fewer than 3 days remaining.
Ingredients in red (out of stock): order today. Check whether a substitute is available to keep the menu running.
Ingredients in yellow (low stock): order if their lead time is longer than the days remaining. If lead time is 2 days and days remaining is 1.5 days, you are already late.
Ingredients expiring before used: reduce par level, share the stock with another outlet, or plan a special to move it faster.
Rising Est. Reorder Cost week over week: investigate. It usually means you're under-ordering and playing catch-up, or a supplier has raised prices.
Frequently asked questions
Why is an ingredient showing as "Expiring Before Used" when I'm using it every day?
The stat compares your average daily usage over the last 28 days against the shelf life set on the product. If you're using less now than you were a month ago, or if you recently received a large delivery, this flag can appear even though you think it's moving. Check the shelf life value on the ingredient — it may need to be adjusted.
Why is Suggested Order showing zero when I'm below par level?
Make sure your par level and reorder point are set on the product. Without them, the system has nothing to compare against. Go to the ingredient's settings and set par level first.
What's the difference between Par Level and Reorder Point?
Reorder point is the trigger — "order soon." Par level is the target — "order back up to here." Par should always be above reorder point, usually enough to cover a full delivery cycle plus a safety buffer.
Does the suggestion take lead time into account?
Not yet. V1 tops you up to par based on current stock only. A lead-time-aware version is planned — it will factor in how much you'll use between ordering and delivery, and top up more aggressively when lead time is long.
Can I change par levels from this dashboard?
Not from the dashboard itself — par level lives on the ingredient record. Open the ingredient in Papaya Inventory to edit it. Changes take effect on the next dashboard refresh.