Fill rate is how much of what customers ordered you shipped, and it comes three ways. Unit fill rate = units shipped ÷ units ordered. Line fill rate = order lines shipped in full ÷ order lines. Order fill rate = orders shipped complete ÷ orders. The same month can look fine on one and poor on another: a granola maker that shipped 168 of 192 units, 87.5%, shipped only four of its six orders complete, 66.7%, because one short line makes a whole order incomplete. Grocery and distributor buyers ask about fill rate because a short order leaves a gap on their shelf. Below is each formula, a worked month, what a good rate is, why fill rates fall, and a free calculator.
The short version
- Unit fill rate = units shipped ÷ units ordered.
- Line fill rate = lines shipped in full ÷ lines ordered.
- Order fill rate = orders shipped complete ÷ orders.
- The order fill rate is the strictest: one short line makes the whole order short.
- Ask which one a buyer means when they set a target.
- Short orders start upstream: a late reorder, a short batch, a count that was wrong.
- TaroStack shows whether an order can be filled while you're typing it, and puts what's short on the reorder list. More below.
The three formulas
| Fill rate | Formula | What it says |
|---|---|---|
| Unit | Units shipped ÷ units ordered | How much of the volume went out |
| Line | Lines shipped in full ÷ lines ordered | How many items arrived as ordered |
| Order | Orders shipped complete ÷ orders | How many customers got everything they asked for |
A buyer who orders 36 jars of granola and gets 24 has a unit fill rate of 67% on that line, a line that wasn't filled, and an order that wasn't complete, all from one shortage.
An example: a granola maker's October
Pine Barrens Pantry, a made-up granola, jam and hot sauce maker in Hammonton, New Jersey, I use in these examples, ships six shop orders in October:
| Order | Customer | Item | Ordered | Shipped | In full? |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SO-301 | Barnegat Bay Market | Maple pecan granola | 24 | 24 | Yes |
| SO-301 | Barnegat Bay Market | Blueberry jam | 12 | 12 | Yes |
| SO-302 | Pine Street Grocer | Maple pecan granola | 36 | 24 | No |
| SO-302 | Pine Street Grocer | Hot sauce | 12 | 12 | Yes |
| SO-303 | Hammonton Farm Stand | Blueberry jam | 24 | 24 | Yes |
| SO-304 | Cape May Provisions | Maple pecan granola | 24 | 24 | Yes |
| SO-304 | Cape May Provisions | Cranberry granola | 12 | 0 | No |
| SO-304 | Cape May Provisions | Blueberry jam | 12 | 12 | Yes |
| SO-305 | Barnegat Bay Market | Hot sauce | 24 | 24 | Yes |
| SO-306 | Pine Street Grocer | Blueberry jam | 12 | 12 | Yes |
| Fill rate | Calculation | Result |
|---|---|---|
| Unit | 168 shipped ÷ 192 ordered | 87.5% |
| Line | 8 lines in full ÷ 10 lines | 80.0% |
| Order | 4 orders complete ÷ 6 orders | 66.7% |
Two shortages did all the damage: 12 jars of maple pecan short for one shop, and no cranberry granola at all for another, because the oats for the batch arrived late. Two of six shops got less than they ordered, and those are the two who'll remember it. Why the oats were late, and how to see it coming, is in lead time calculation formula.
What a good fill rate is
As close to 100% as you can get, and the buyer's number is the one that counts: large grocery chains and distributors often set a target in their supplier terms, and some charge for orders that arrive short. Ask which fill rate they measure, units, lines or orders, because 95% means something different on each. What grocery buyers ask of a new supplier is in selling to grocery stores requirements.
Why fill rates fall
A short order is almost never about the order. It's a reorder placed too late, a batch that came out short, or stock that was there on paper and not on the shelf. The fixes are upstream: order in time, using days of supply against the lead time, as in reorder point example; keep a cushion for the products shops order most, as in safety stock formula; and count often enough that the books are right.
Get the calculator
Download the fill rate calculator. Three sheets: order lines, where you type what was ordered and shipped, and the shortfall and whether each line went in full fill in; orders, which counts each order's lines and says whether it shipped complete; and the three fill rates. It's an ordinary Excel file with no macros, and it works in Google Sheets, LibreOffice and Numbers.
Where this stops working
The calculator tells you last month's fill rate after the shops have noticed. What would have helped is knowing, when the order came in, that the cranberry granola wasn't there, and knowing two weeks earlier that the oats would run out.
How TaroStack does it
TaroStack shows whether an order can be filled while you're typing it, and puts what's short on the reorder list.
Stock as you take the order. A shop's order is a sales order that shows whether there's enough of each item on hand while you're typing it, so a short line is known before the order is promised, not when it's picked.
Short before it happens. Ingredients and finished goods come up on a reorder list in days of cover, worked out from how fast they're used, so the oats for the cranberry granola are ordered before they run out, and "what could I make right now" says whether a batch can be made.
What shipped. Each order is picked from one picking list and shipped with a delivery note, so what each shop got is on record, line by line.
| The job | Spreadsheet | In TaroStack |
|---|---|---|
| Can this order be filled? | Find out when picking | Shown as you type the order |
| Oats running out | Noticed on the day | Reorder list in days of cover |
| Can we make the cranberry batch? | Check every ingredient | What could I make right now |
| What each shop got | Copies of invoices | Delivery notes, line by line |
Sales orders, picking lists, reorder lists and recipes are on every plan, from $49 a month. The first 30 days are free, with no credit card. If you'd like a hand setting up, ask, and we'll do it with you.