Tru-Stock AI Solutions
Demand Simulation: Turn Vendor Availability Into Purchase Orders in Seconds
Your vendor sends you a list of what they have available. You need to know what to buy. Instead of cross-referencing hundreds of SKUs against your inventory, drop the file into Tru-Stock and get an instant answer — what to order, how much, and what it costs.
The Problem: Manual Vendor List Checking
Every distributor knows this scenario: a vendor emails you a spreadsheet of available products. You open it, then open your inventory system, and start checking SKU by SKU. How much do I have? How much do I need? Is this on order already? What about the shipment from China?
For a list of 500+ SKUs, this takes hours. And by the time you finish, the vendor's stock may have changed. Worse, you might miss products you desperately need because you got tired halfway through the list.
Demand simulation eliminates this entirely. Drop the file, get the answer, export the purchase order. Done in under 30 seconds.
How It Works
1. Drop the File
Drag and drop your vendor's Excel or CSV file. The system reads SKU and quantity columns automatically — extra columns like description, year, or cost are ignored.
2. Instant Analysis
Every SKU is matched against your inventory using intelligent 7-character fuzzy matching. The system calculates target stock, compares to on-hand, and determines exactly what you need.
3. Export & Order
Download a two-tab Excel file: "Order" with exactly what to buy, and "New SKUs to Consider" with vendor products not yet in your catalog. Send to your vendor immediately.
Bridge Order Logic: Smart Purchasing Across Multiple Vendors
Most distributors source the same products from multiple vendors — a fast domestic supplier for urgent needs and a slow overseas supplier for bulk pricing. When your bulk shipment from China is 50+ days out, you can't count that on-order inventory for immediate stock planning.
Bridge order logic solves this by calculating order quantities based on on-hand inventory only, ignoring far-out on-order quantities. If your target stock is 28 units and you have 0 on hand (with 28 on order from China arriving in 60 days), the system tells you to order 28 from the fast vendor — because you need stock now, not in two months.
Bridge Order Formula
Target Stock = Order Qty + On Hand + On Order
Bridge Need = Target Stock - On Hand (ignores on-order)
Order Qty = min(Bridge Need, Vendor Available)
You order enough to reach target stock based on what you actually have in the warehouse — capped by what the vendor has available.
Intelligent SKU Matching
Vendor lists come in all formats. The same product might appear as DW01341 GBY from one vendor and DW01341 GTY CMX from another. Manual matching is error-prone and slow.
7-Character Fuzzy Matching
The first 7 characters of any SKU identify the base product. Vendor suffixes, spaces, and formatting differences are stripped automatically. One parent product, one demand line — regardless of how many vendor variants exist.
Automatic Aggregation
If the same base product appears multiple times in the vendor list (different suffixes), quantities are summed. You see one line per product with the total available quantity across all variants.
New Product Discovery
SKUs that don't match anything in your system are flagged as "New SKUs to Consider" — potential products to add to your catalog. Never miss a new opportunity from your vendor's inventory.
Multi-Format Support
Excel (.xlsx, .xls), CSV, and TSV files are all supported. The parser handles multi-column layouts, header rows, and messy formatting. Just make sure SKU is in column A and quantity in column B.
Two-Tab Excel Export
The simulation results export to a clean Excel file with two tabs:
Tab 1: Order
Every product you need to restock from this vendor, with:
- SKU and vendor available quantity
- Your current on-hand and on-order
- Calculated order quantity (bridge logic)
- Unit cost and total line value
- Grand totals at the bottom
Tab 2: New SKUs to Consider
Products from the vendor's list that don't exist in your inventory system:
- SKU and vendor available quantity
- Potential new products to evaluate
- Discover gaps in your catalog
- Share with your team for review
Available Everywhere You Work
Run demand simulations from two places:
Purchasing Page
The dedicated Demand Simulation button on the Purchasing page opens a full-screen modal. Drop your file, see results in a table, click to see order math for any line, and download the Excel export.
AI Assistant
Drop a vendor file directly into the AI chat. The assistant runs the simulation, explains the results in plain English, and provides a downloadable CSV. Ask follow-up questions about specific SKUs or recommendations.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is demand simulation for inventory management?
Demand simulation lets you take a vendor's availability list and cross-reference it against your inventory levels and reorder targets. Drop in the file and the system tells you what to buy, how much, and what it costs — replacing hours of manual SKU-by-SKU checking.
What is bridge order logic?
Bridge ordering calculates what you need based on on-hand inventory only, ignoring far-out on-order quantities from slow suppliers. If you have stock coming from China in 60 days but need products now, bridge logic tells you to order from a faster vendor to fill the gap.
What file formats are supported?
Excel (.xlsx, .xls), CSV, and TSV files. Column A should be the SKU and column B the available quantity. Extra columns are automatically ignored.
How does SKU matching work?
The system uses 7-character fuzzy matching on the base part number. Vendor suffixes, spaces, and formatting differences are stripped automatically. All variants of the same product are aggregated into a single line.
Can I run simulations from the AI assistant?
Yes. Drop a vendor file into the AI chat and the assistant runs the simulation, explains results, and provides a downloadable CSV. You can also ask follow-up questions about specific SKUs.
What happens with SKUs not in my system?
They appear in the 'New SKUs to Consider' tab of the Excel export. These are potential new products from your vendor that you might want to add to your catalog.
Stop Checking SKUs One by One
Drop your vendor's availability list and get an instant purchase order. Free trial includes full demand simulation.