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Inventory replenishment software decides when to reorder each item you stock and fires the order, so stock refills before it runs out. The tools differ mainly in what triggers the reorder: some wait for someone to enter a number, some run a forecast, and some read a physical signal at the shelf. Arda uses the third approach. Every stocked item carries a card with a QR code, and scanning the card when the bin runs low fires the reorder at the right quantity from the right supplier.

There are five common types: reorder point, min/max, par level, two-bin or kanban, and vendor managed inventory. Reorder point, min/max and par level all depend on an accurate on-hand figure, so they hold in steady, tightly-managed operations and drift in high-mix ones. Two-bin kanban and VMI depend on a physical signal instead of a number, which is why they hold on a shop floor where nobody stops to do data entry. Compare the five methods above.

The best fit depends on which problem is actually costing you money. If you need a full system of record for finance, jobs and costing, that is an ERP such as NetSuite. If you need production scheduling against a bill of materials, that is an MRP such as Katana. If you need statistical forecasting on top of an existing ERP, that is Netstock or Slimstock. If the thing that stops your jobs is the stock nobody is watching, the off-BOM consumables and the fast-moving items an ERP never sees, that is what Arda's inventory replenishment software does, and it runs alongside whichever of the above you already have. See the full comparison.

Almost all of it runs alongside, and NetSuite is the exception because it is the ERP. Arda splices in rather than replacing anything. Your ERP keeps doing jobs, routing and costing, and Arda runs the replenishment loop for everything you stock, starting with the variable-consumption goods that never make it onto a BOM. It integrates with QuickBooks, NetSuite, Odoo, Xero, Shopify, Stripe, Airtable, Make and Zapier, plus a REST API. There is no rip and replace and no implementation project.

The reorder gets triggered by a physical event instead of a number. Each item you stock holds a quantity sized to your supplier's lead time plus a cushion, and that quantity is written into the card on the bin. When the bin runs low, whoever is standing there scans the card with any phone, and Arda places the order. Nobody tallies the shelf, nobody does a stock check and nobody types a purchase order. Scanning is the fastest way to get more of the thing, which is why compliance holds past week one.

Push replenishment orders stock against a forecast of what you expect to use. Pull replenishment orders stock against what you actually used. Push works when demand is predictable enough to forecast, which is why it suits high-volume repeat production. Pull works when it is not, which is why high-mix, low-volume shops running a different job every week are better served by a pull system where consumption itself fires the order.

The card quantity covers consumption across the supplier's lead time, plus safety stock for the variability. A shop that burns 40 units a day with a five-day lead time and 50 units of safety stock sets the card at 250. Arda encodes that number as the card quantity, so the reorder point becomes physical and nobody recalculates it by hand. Arda sizes the first cards with you during onboarding using your real burn rate, and on Pro plans tunes them from your actual scan history. When a job changes what you burn, you resize that one card. More on the reorder point.

Create unlimited items and cards on Free, without Order Queue access. Solo includes one user and up to 10 orders a month after its 7-day trial. Team and Pro are priced per Power User and include unlimited scanning for your team. Compare current plans and billing.