How to Plan for Packaged Coffee Par Levels (or extra inventory)

Maintaining par levels for your packaged coffee allows roasters to have invenotry on hand to fulfill orders faster. Whether you're wanting a weeks worth of inventor or just a cushion for unexpected orders, using this process can help you create the levels of inventory you'd like to have on hand. This guide walks you through a simple method to set up and manage par levels in RoasterTools using internal orders.

Setting Up Par Levels

Step 1: Create an Internal Customer

Before setting up par levels, you need to create an internal customer to associate with your par level orders:

• Navigate to your sales > customer
• Create a new customer called "Internal" (or any name that indicates it's for internal use)

Step 2: Create a Par Level Order

1. Create a new order assigned to your internal customer
2. Add all packaged coffee items that you want to maintain par levels for
3. For each item, enter the quantity you want to keep on hand
4. Set the desired production date for the par levels
5. Approve the order into ready status

This order represents your desired inventory levels for packaged coffee. It creates "false demand" in the system, ensuring these quantities are included in your production planning.

Planning Using the Par Level Order

Note: the approved order will be included in the production plan on the assigned production day

Step 3: Run Auto Plan

After creating your par level order:

• In the Planning Page - Use the Auto Plan feature to generate all necessary tasks
• The system will create roasting, blending, and packaging tasks to meet the demeand for all orders, including your internal par level order
• Initially, the plan will show zero carryover on the packaging tab, as all production is allocated to orders

Step 4: Reschedule the Par Level Order

Once planning is complete:

1. Go back to your internal par level order
2. Edit the order and change the production date:
   • Move it one day forward if you want to maintain par levels daily
   • Move it to next week if you track par levels weekly
   • Or move it to any future date that works for your workflow
3. Update the order

Step 5: Verify Carryover Inventory

After rescheduling the par level order:

• Go back to your planning page
• Filter for "packages with carryover"
• You should now see your par level items listed with carryover quantities
• This carryover represents your par level inventory that will be available after fulfilling regular orders

What if I press AutoPlan again?

• The tasks will not go away.
• If you already updated the Par Level order to a future date:
• Review the carryover and you may need to adjust of a new order was added that would use that inventory.

Maintaining Par Levels

• Regular Updates: You can edit your par level order anytime to adjust quantities or add new items
• Continuous Process: Keep moving the production date forward to maintain par levels

Additional Notes

• This method works for coffee and bundled products, including cases of frac packs and other bags cases
• For maintaining par levels of roasted or blended coffee (not packaged), manual planning is recommended
• Your production team will not see the par level order on the fulfill page after you move the date forward

By following this process, you can ensure you always have enough packaged coffee inventory available while streamlining your production planning.