Inputs and planning rule
This example starts with 60 usable units. Each row must be one consecutive planning day, including zero-demand days, for the same item and count unit. Labels do not validate date spans. Each scenario arrival enters before that day’s demand. After the first shortage, later rows are retained but not evaluated as uninterrupted cover. A partial day assumes uniform demand within that day; arrivals are assumptions, not received stock.
Worked example
| Day | Arrival units | Demand units | Before demand | Remaining | Shortfall |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| D1 | 0 | 20 | 60 | 40 | 0 |
| D2 | 20 | 30 | 60 | 30 | 0 |
| D3 | 0 | 40 | 30 | 0 | 10 |
What changes if a later arrival follows the D3 shortage?
Show the worked answer
The first shortage remains D3. Cover is two full days plus 30/40 of D3, or 2.75 days under the uniform within-day assumption. Later arrivals cannot erase that gap.
When the result is held
All-zero demand reports no demand in this horizon. A fully supplied horizon has no established cover beyond its last row. Blank values are unknown, not zero. Use distinct nonblank day labels, 1–366 rows and whole quantities from 0 to 1,000,000. Exact exhaustion covers that day; a shortage stops evaluation.