Most ordering problems are timing problems: a missed cut-off, an order below the minimum, a delivery that arrives the day after you needed it. A weekly schedule for each supplier, and a par for every product, removes most of them. On order day you count, subtract from par and round up to whole packs.
Write down every supplier's terms
One line per supplier, kept where whoever orders can see it. Here are the sample bistro's six:
| Supplier | How to order | Cut-off | Lead time | Minimum |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fresh Meats Ltd | Phone | 14:00 | 1 day | €150 |
| Green Valley Produce | 20:00 | 1 day | €60 | |
| Dairy Direct | App | 12:00 | 1 day | €80 |
| Dry Goods Wholesale | 16:00 | 2 days | €250 | |
| Vinoteca Wines | 11:00 | 2 days | €300 | |
| City Drinks Supply | App | 15:00 | 2 days | €200 |
Add the contact name, phone and email, account number and payment terms. Note anything that changes how you order: Dry Goods Wholesale delivers free above €400, so it pays to group dry goods into fewer, larger orders.
Map order days and delivery days
Set the days with each supplier, then put them on one weekly grid:
| Supplier | Order | Delivery |
|---|---|---|
| Fresh Meats Ltd | Mon, Thu | Tue, Fri |
| Green Valley Produce | Sun to Fri | Mon to Sat |
| Dairy Direct | Mon, Wed, Fri | Tue, Thu, Sat |
| Dry Goods Wholesale | Tue | Thu |
| Vinoteca Wines | Wed | Fri |
| City Drinks Supply | Mon | Wed |
The gap between deliveries sets how much you need. Fresh Meats delivers on Friday and next on Tuesday, so the Friday delivery has to carry the whole weekend. Cut-offs need the same attention. A meat order phoned in at 14:05 is tomorrow's problem, and tomorrow is not a meat day.
Order quantity: par minus on hand, in whole packs
The par is the number of packs you want on the shelf after the delivery, enough to last until the next one. Set it from your usage between deliveries plus a small buffer, and review it when the menu or the season changes.
Packs to order = par − on hand, rounded up to a whole pack, never below zero.
Monday's order to Fresh Meats Ltd:
| Product | Pack | Price per pack | Par | On hand | Order | Value |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Beef chuck | 5 kg | €62.50 | 4 | 1.5 | 3 | €187.50 |
| Chicken thighs | 5 kg | €36.00 | 3 | 1 | 2 | €72.00 |
| Duck legs | 10 pieces | €38.00 | 2 | 1 | 1 | €38.00 |
| Total | €297.50 |
Beef chuck: 4 − 1.5 = 2.5 packs, rounded up to 3. The braised beef is the best seller, so rounding down to 2 would mean a short weekend. The total of €297.50 clears the €150 minimum.
Check the minimum before you send
Add up each order and compare it with the supplier's minimum before the cut-off. The bistro's Monday orders:
| Supplier | Order by | Order value | Minimum | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fresh Meats Ltd | 14:00 | €297.50 | €150 | OK |
| Green Valley Produce | 20:00 | €73.90 | €60 | OK |
| Dairy Direct | 12:00 | €142.60 | €80 | OK |
| City Drinks Supply | 15:00 | €187.20 | €200 | Below minimum |
City Drinks Supply only takes orders on Monday, so waiting for the next order day means a week's wait. The fix is to add stock you will need soon anyway: one more case of cola at €13.20 brings the order to €200.40. Where a supplier has a second order day, the other option is to combine the two orders into one.
Order in the sequence of the cut-offs: Dairy Direct by 12:00, Fresh Meats by 14:00, City Drinks by 15:00, Green Valley by 20:00. Assign one person, usually the head chef or the manager on shift, and give them a back-up for days off.
Run the week from one order guide
The Supplier Order Guide keeps each supplier's contact, how to order, cut-off, lead time, minimum, payment terms and account number on one tab, with a weekly schedule of order and delivery days. The Order Sheet lists your products with pack size, price and par: enter what is on hand, and it works out the packs to order and the value of each order. Today's Orders shows, for the day you choose, who to order from, by when, how, the order value and whether it reaches the minimum. It works in Excel, Google Sheets and LibreOffice.
Related
- Read: How to Set Prep Par Levels
- Read: How to Catch Supplier Price Rises
- Also useful: Supplier Price Tracker, see which pack prices moved since the last order
Every template in Restaurant Notes is in the Complete Restaurant Collection: 25 tools in one download.