Supply and demand

In Sterling Order Management System Software, the supply for an item is the entire quantity of the item received at a node.

Supply includes the on-hand supply. The supply consists of purchase orders (POs) and advance shipment notices (ASNs) received by the node. In addition to on-hand supply, supply includes future inventory—previously placed purchase orders that have not arrived from vendors.

In Sterling Order Management System Software, the demand for an item is the expressed desire to consume a quantity of the item. Demand includes orders placed and reservations made for an item.

Demand can only be fulfilled if sufficient supply exists. The quantity available is the amount of supply left over after all demands for the item are fulfilled. Therefore, the available inventory is the difference between its supply and its demand.