Disclaimer

Reference, not consulting

EOQCalculator.com is an independent reference site. The calculators and worked examples are informational. We are not licensed APICS or CSCMP advisors; we do not take responsibility for inventory or stocking decisions made on the basis of output from this site.

Limits of the models

The Wilson EOQ formula assumes constant demand, fixed order cost, constant holding cost, instantaneous resupply, and no shortages. Real-world inventory decisions often break one or more of those assumptions. We document the variant models (quantity discount, backorder, EPQ, multi-item joint) that handle the common departures, but even those rest on assumptions that can fail in practice. Use the calculators as a starting point; pressure-test the answer against your local context.

When to escalate to a planner

If the SKU is critical (line-down stockout cost in the high four figures or above), if the demand process is genuinely intermittent (Croston territory), or if regulatory constraints (shelf life, batch tracking) bind, engage an APICS-certified planner or a category specialist. A free calculator is the right tool for the typical SMB SKU; it is the wrong tool for the boundary cases.

License

Content on this site is free to read. Calculator outputs may be reproduced in your own materials with attribution to EOQCalculator.com. Bulk scraping is not permitted.