---
title: "Monitor low stock and reorder points"
description: "The Low Stock tab lists every purchased item at or below its reorder point, with the quantity available, the reorder point it fell under, and a suggested order quantity. This page covers opening the tab, the exact rule that puts an item on the list, how an item stocked as pieces is judged, setting a reorder point against your supplier's lead time, and the four things the list leaves out. Viewing is open to every member; changing a reorder point takes an Owner or Administrator role."
category: "Manage stock"
source_url: "https://www.iotflows.com/docs/inventory/low-stock/"
---
# Monitor low stock and reorder points

What is below its reorder point right now, and what this view leaves out.

A *reorder point* is the available quantity at or below which IoTFlows flags an item for ordering. It is a field on the item, counted in the item's own unit, and it defaults to 0, so an item appears here only once you set one. See [Create and edit items](/docs/inventory/manage-items/#fields).

Every member can open this tab. Changing a reorder point takes an [Owner or Administrator role](/docs/admin/roles-reference/).

## Open Low Stock
1. Open **Inventory** from the top navigation.
2. Select the **Low Stock** tab. The address bar reads `/inventory?select=low_stock`.

The heading carries the number of items on the list. When nothing is low, the tab reads **Everything is above its reorder point.**

Each row shows the item's picture, name and SKU, a **Low stock** or **Shortage** pill, and three numbers:

- **Available** is on hand minus what open work orders have reserved, explained in [Adjust stock and track locations](/docs/inventory/adjust-stock/#reserved).
- **Reorder point** is the level set on the item.
- **Suggested order** is the reorder point minus available. Ordering that much puts the item back at its reorder point exactly, with nothing spare.

**View item** opens the item in the right-hand drawer, where you adjust stock or change the reorder point without leaving the list. The tab itself carries no search, no sort and no filters.

![The Low Stock tab listing six purchased items, each with an available quantity, a reorder point, a suggested order quantity and a View item button](/images/inventory/inv-low-01.webp)

*The Low Stock view. Only purchased items are fetched, so a manufactured item never appears here however low it runs.*

**On mobile.** The same list is the **Low** segment of the Inventory screen, beside **Items** and **Transactions**. It reads the rows the catalog already loaded, so the two cannot disagree.

![The Low segment of the Inventory screen on Android, listing purchased items below their reorder point](/images/inventory/inv-low-03.webp)

*The Low segment on Android. It is derived from the same rows as the catalog, so the two cannot disagree.*

## How the list is built
The tab asks for the purchased items in your organization, then keeps the ones that are short. Three rules decide it:

- Available is at or below the reorder point, and the reorder point is above 0. The row reads **Low stock**.
- Available is negative, whatever the reorder point says. More is reserved than is on the shelf, and the row reads **Shortage**.
- A reorder point of 0 never flags an item. An item with no reorder point reaches this list only by going negative.

At or below, not below: an item with 20 available and a reorder point of 20 is on the list.

### What appears here
| Segment | Appears | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Purchased | Yes | The tab fetches purchased items only |
| Manufactured | No | Not fetched. You make these rather than order them, so change the item's **Type** to Purchased if it belongs here |
| Tools | Yes, with a **Tool** chip | **Tools** is a filter over the types, not a type of its own, and every item created in IoTFlows is purchased. Running out of racks stops a job the same way running out of bolts does |
| An item stocked as pieces | Yes, as one row | Judged on how many of its *pieces*, the physical units it is held as, are still free, not on a quantity |
| A single piece | No | Pieces are counted under the item they belong to, never listed on their own |

An item stocked as pieces holds no stock itself, so its own available is permanently 0 and no restocking could clear it. It is judged on how many of its pieces no open work order is holding, its reorder point counts pieces, and the row carries a **Pieces** chip to say so. See [Track serialized pieces and tools](/docs/inventory/serialized-pieces/).

## Set a reorder point that works
1. Select **View item** on the row, or open the item from the **Items** tab.
2. Select the **Reorder point** field in the item's meta card.
3. Enter the number and save. The field saves on its own, and a failed save reverts it and raises **Could not update item**.

Set the reorder point to cover your supplier's lead time at your normal consumption rate, not to a round number. For a nitrile gasket you draw 40 of a week from a supplier who ships in three weeks, that is 120, plus whatever cushion your receiving takes.

A round number set without that arithmetic is worse than none. A reorder point of 10 on a part you use twice a year is a permanent alert, and a list nobody finishes reading.

![An item's reorder point field beside its current stock, with an arrow from the stock figure to the reorder point](/images/inventory/inv-low-02.webp)

*How an item lands in Low Stock.*

## What Low Stock does not show
**Manufactured items.** You do not get a low-stock view for anything you make. Track those from the **Items** tab filtered to **Manufactured**, where list mode carries the same quantity columns.

**Stock that is already on order.** Incoming quantities are not netted into available, so an item stays on this list until a receipt lands its stock. A job cannot pull from stock that is not on a shelf yet.

**Where the shortage is.** Each row is one organization-wide number. An item can be low overall while one location is full, so open the item and read **Stock by location** before you order.

**What the item's own pill says.** The pill on an item's detail is judged against **On hand**, this list against **Available**. A full shelf spoken for by open work orders therefore reads **In stock** on the detail and still appears here.

> **Info:**
> **The list is empty, but I know something is low.**
> Check the item's **Type** first: a part switched to **Manufactured** is not fetched here, however low it runs. Then check its reorder point, since 0 or blank never flags. Both fields are on the item's detail, covered in [Create and edit items](/docs/inventory/manage-items/#fields).

## See also
- [Create and edit items](/docs/inventory/manage-items/)
- [Adjust stock and track locations](/docs/inventory/adjust-stock/)
- [Transaction types](/docs/inventory/transaction-types/)
- [How work orders move stock](/docs/inventory/how-work-orders-move-stock/)