Inventory planning
Cycle Stock
By the Supply Chain Manager team · Updated October 16, 2026
Cycle stock is the inventory you expect to sell between deliveries: the part of stock that rises with each receipt and runs down until the next one.
Total inventory is usually cycle stock plus safety stock, plus any seasonal build or stock in transit. With steady demand, average cycle stock is about half the order quantity: it starts at the full order and falls towards zero.
How to calculate cycle stock
Average Cycle Stock ≈ Order Quantity ÷ 2
Cycle stock example
Illustrative numbers: ordering 600 units a month of a steady seller gives average cycle stock of about 300 units. Ordering 150 units weekly instead brings it down to about 75, at the price of four times as many orders.
Why cycle stock matters for distributors
Cycle stock is driven by order size, so it is the part of inventory that order frequency, MOQs and supplier minimums control directly. Safety stock is driven by uncertainty. Knowing which is which tells you which lever to pull.
Common cycle stock mistakes
- Cutting safety stock to reduce inventory when the real excess is oversized orders.
- Forgetting that more frequent, smaller orders raise ordering and freight costs.
Examples on this page use made-up round numbers to show the calculation. They are not benchmarks or results from real businesses.