Perishability
A seven-day requirement for yoghurt or fresh cream should not automatically become a seven-day purchase. Delivery cadence and expiry risk matter.
Restaurant Forecasting · Inventory Requirement
Buy ingredients from the menu you expect to sell.
Openfluid converts outlet-level menu demand into ingredient requirements using your recipes, then compares that requirement with usable stock. The result is a purchasing and transfer priority, not another inventory report.
Demand × recipe quantityOutlet-level stock gapsLead-time aware planning
Ingredient requirement view
Worked example
The calculation begins with recipes, not averages.
A transparent requirement is easier to challenge than a black-box purchase quantity.
Seven-day sample · Gachibowli
Chicken Boneless
The sample series indicates approximately 107.45 kg of expected usage over the next seven days. The latest recorded closing stock is 61.68 kg. Before safety stock, confirmed receipts and yield adjustments, that creates a visible gross gap of about 45.77 kg.
Forecast usage107.45 kgClosing stock61.68 kgGross gap45.77 kg
Synthetic sample data. A production recommendation would also account for open purchase orders, usable shelf life, recipe yield, transfer availability and supplier lead time.
How it works
From dish forecast to purchase priority.
1
Forecast dishes
Estimate menu-item demand for each outlet and service date.
2
Explode recipes
Multiply expected portions by ingredient quantity, yield and unit conversion.
3
Net available stock
Subtract usable on-hand stock and confirmed inbound quantities.
4
Apply operating rules
Add safety stock, minimum order quantity, lead time and shelf-life constraints.
5
Recommend action
Buy, transfer, defer or review, along with the evidence behind the recommendation.
Operating controls
Not every stock gap should become a purchase order.
Recipe yield
Gross ingredient weight, trim loss and cooked yield must be represented separately. Using a recipe’s purchase weight as serving weight can materially overstate demand.
Transfers
One outlet’s shortage may be another outlet’s excess. Transfer recommendations should consider distance, handling cost and remaining shelf life.
Open commitments
Confirmed purchase orders and goods in transit must be netted before declaring a shortage. The forecast should not duplicate an order already on the way.
Data requirements
What Openfluid needs from your operation.
| Input | Minimum useful fields | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| Menu demand | Outlet, item, service date, forecast portions | Defines the dishes that drive consumption. |
| Recipe master | Item, ingredient, quantity, unit, yield, effective date | Translates dishes into ingredient quantities. |
| Inventory | Outlet, ingredient, usable closing stock, timestamp | Establishes what is available now. |
| Purchasing | Open PO quantity, expected receipt date, supplier | Prevents duplicate purchasing. |
| Operating rules | Lead time, safety stock, pack size, shelf life | Turns a mathematical gap into a practical action. |
Boundary: without recipes and current stock, Openfluid can forecast ingredient usage patterns from history, but it cannot reliably explain which menu demand caused the requirement or produce a defensible purchase recommendation.
FAQ
Questions operators usually ask.
Can Openfluid create purchase orders automatically?
The first release is designed to recommend quantities and expose the calculation. Automatic PO creation should be added only after approval rules, supplier mappings and exception handling are agreed.
What happens when recipes change?
Recipes need effective dates. Forecast demand for a future date should use the recipe expected to be active on that date, not an undated historical version.
Does closing stock equal usable stock?
Not always. Quarantined, expired, reserved or damaged stock should be excluded. A reliable implementation defines the usable-stock rule with the operator.
Can the model recommend transfers between outlets?
Yes, when comparable units, shelf life, transfer time and source-outlet safety stock are available. The transfer should be evaluated against purchasing, not shown as a free alternative.
See the inventory decision with your own data.
Share one outlet’s menu history, recipe export and closing inventory. We will identify what can be forecast immediately and which controls are still missing.