For several decades, the just-in-time doctrine established itself as the absolute reference in inventory management. Minimizing stock, shortening lead times and optimizing flows were presented as the cardinal virtues of industrial and logistics performance. Toyota, the company that had theorized and systematized this approach, became the universal model to imitate. This doctrine, elegant in theory, assumed a stable, predictable world, without major shocks to supply chains. Recent years have reminded us that this world does not exist.
The disruptions that changed the game
- Since 2020, global supply chains have experienced several major shocks
- The pandemic disrupted ports, closed factories and upended transport
- Geopolitical tensions have tightened access conditions to strategic components
- Extreme weather events have cut sea and land routes
- The European energy crisis has sent logistics costs soaring
For French industrial and trading companies, these disruptions had direct consequences. Critical components became unavailable for months. Prices soared within weeks. Customer commitments became untenable for lack of material. Zero stock, prized in normal times, became a major point of fragility.
This collective experience led to a deep revision of the stock doctrine. Just-in-time is not dead, but it has ceased to be the universal ideal. A more nuanced approach has taken hold, distinguishing strategic purchases (to be secured with significant buffer stocks) from commodity purchases (to be managed with standard lean flow).
Analysis by criticality
The first step of a modern stock policy is to classify items by criticality. This analysis, simple to carry out but rarely systematized, distinguishes three broad categories.
Strategic critical items. Components essential to the product, with no easy alternative, with a single or highly concentrated supplier, or exposed to potential supply disruptions. For these items, stock policy must favor security: high buffer stocks, multi-sourcing if possible, long-term contracting.
Standard high-turnover items. Common components, multiple suppliers available, relatively stable prices. For these items, just-in-time remains relevant: low stocks, frequent replenishment, optimization of working capital.
Marginal items. Low-volume products, low operational criticality, low economic stakes. For these items, the policy can be pragmatic: on-demand stock, one-off purchases, little monitoring.
This classification seems obvious when stated, but it is not systematically applied. Many companies manage all their items according to a single uniform logic, which makes them simultaneously too exposed on critical items and too heavily invested in marginal items.
Structured automatic replenishment
Odoo's automatic replenishment module, sometimes called MRP (Material Requirements Planning) in its industrial form, lets you configure for each item a policy suited to its criticality.
For critical items, you define a high minimum stock. When available stock falls below this threshold, Odoo automatically generates a purchase order or an RFQ. The calculation takes into account ongoing orders and forecast needs, which avoids redundant orders.
For standard items, the minimum stock is set as low as possible, and replenishment happens at short intervals with moderate quantities.
For marginal items, you can disable automatic replenishment and switch to purchase-on-demand mode.
This differentiated configuration turns stock policy into a managed discipline. The logistics director no longer chases unexpected stockouts. They manage rules, adjust parameters as the market evolves, and keep their attention free for strategic decisions.
The working capital challenge
For finance departments, stock policy has a direct impact on working capital requirements. Every euro tied up in stock is a euro unavailable for other uses:
- investments, salaries, distributions.
- Optimizing stock without degrading supply security is one of the most direct levers for improving cash flow.
The trade-off is not obvious. Increasing buffer stocks secures operations but weighs on cash flow. Reducing stock frees up cash flow but exposes you to stockouts. The right balance depends on sectors, products, the economic climate and the company's financial health.
In Odoo, these trade-offs can be informed by precise analyses:
- stock value by category, inventory turnover, historical stockouts, extra costs related to emergency purchases.
- These indicators feed policy decisions, which are then translated into adjustments of operational parameters.
Resilience as the new competitive advantage
For French SMEs and mid-sized companies that want to stand out in a turbulent environment, operational resilience is becoming a competitive advantage. A customer choosing a supplier increasingly looks at its ability to keep commitments even in the event of external disruption. An investor values companies whose supply chain does not depend on a single fragile link.
This resilience is built through concrete decisions:
- diversification of sourcing, buffer stocks on critical items, framework agreements with alternative suppliers, digital visibility across the whole chain.
- Software tooling is not enough, but it is essential to make these decisions workable day to day.
Sovereignty of sources
A strategic dimension of sourcing is its geographic distribution. For critical components, depending exclusively on a single geographic area has become a risk that few companies can still afford. Diversification among European suppliers, and the gradual search for French or European sources for the most strategic components, have become purchasing governance topics.
This diversification cannot be done all at once. It is a multi-year effort that involves identifying alternative sources, qualifying them and ramping up gradually. Odoo's tooling makes it possible to track this transformation over time and measure the share of purchases by geographic area.
Strategic management to be sustained over time
Stock policy is not a secondary operational topic. It is a major determinant of the resilience, profitability and strategic value of an SME or mid-sized company. Devoting the appropriate management attention and the right software tooling to it is one of the structuring choices of the coming years.
ANOR supports French executives in this structuring by combining economic analysis, Odoo configuration and purchasing governance over the long term.