--- title: "Stock runs out while the reorder waits · WorkWeaver" description: "A 14-café chain ran out of oat milk for five days while the order waited on WhatsApp, the owner and the supplier. With WorkWeaver the order goes out before stock runs low." url: https://workweaver.ai/workflows/stock-outs.md canonical: https://workweaver.ai/workflows/stock-outs/ updated: 2026-10-21 --- Operations # Stock runs out while the reorder waits. With WorkWeaver, the order goes out before stock runs low, and no café runs dry. ![A clear storage bin with a red line painted near the bottom, almost empty, in a café storeroom](https://workweaver.ai/assets/img/stock-outs/hero.webp) ## Five days without oat milk. A new menu, and oat-milk sales jump. Here is the stock, day by day. *Stock under the reorder line on Friday, empty from Saturday to Wednesday, full again on Thursday* Fri 3 cases left Sat Out Sun Out Mon Out Tue Out Wed Out Thu Delivered Reorder line No oat milk Fri 4 pm Lost among 60 messages ### A shift lead posts in the group. WhatsApp · Shift leads, 14 cafés **Harbour St**Can anyone swap Sunday close? **Mill Lane**3 cases oat milk left!! **Elm Rd**Grinder is making the noise again **Station**Who has the spare keys? 56 more messages before Monday Sat The operations manager is off ### Cafés run out. Staff buy cartons at the supermarket. ![A supermarket bag full of milk cartons and a long receipt on a café counter](https://workweaver.ai/assets/img/stock-outs/supermarket.webp) Mon 11:00 Owner approves Tuesday ### The order is over USD 2,000. It needs the owner. Email · Purchase order Oat milk, 120 cases **USD 2,520** Approval limit **USD 2,000** Awaiting the owner's approval Wed Delivery Thursday ### The supplier confirms for Thursday. Email · From the dairy Your order is confirmed for Thursday. ## 15 minutes of work. Six days of waiting. **5 days**the cafés had no oat milk **~1,900**oat drinks turned away **9**emergency supermarket runs With WorkWeaver ## Ordered before the line. The agent reads the tills. The owner taps once. No café runs dry. *Stock stays above the reorder line all week; the order arrives Thursday before opening* Tue Order sent Wed Confirmed Thu All 14 cafés Fri Sat Sun Mon To Hana, owner, on WhatsApp · Tue 6:05 Oat-milk sales are up 30% since the new menu. At this rate the cafés run out on Saturday. Order 120 cases from the dairy, USD 2,520, delivered Thursday? Hana approves at 8:15. To the dairy · Tue 8:16 Order PO-2291: 120 cases of oat milk, split across 14 cafés (list attached), delivered Thursday before 7:00. Please confirm. Confirmed at 9:02. To Luis, operations manager · Fri 9:00 This week: 11 orders placed, 2 approved by Hana. Oat milk now sells faster. Reorder at 4 days of stock instead of 2? Luis approves. ![Cases stacked on a trolley at a café door before opening](https://workweaver.ai/assets/img/stock-outs/delivery.webp) **Thu 7:00.** Delivered to all 14 cafés before opening. #### Shift leads Make drinks and talk to regulars, instead of counting cartons. #### Luis, operations manager Visits cafés and trains new staff, instead of sorting orders on Monday. #### Hana, owner Approves in one tap, with the reason, instead of finding orders days late. **Read more** The agent reads the tills and the stock counts and knows each supplier's lead time and the owner's approval limit. It orders before the shelf runs low. Hana approves anything over the limit in one tap, with the reason attached, and reorder rules change only when Luis says so. What the tills sell today reaches Hana before shelves run low. ## It works in the tools you already use. ### Only operations uses Square Toast Lightspeed MarketMan Zoho Inventory Petpooja Tally Prime ### Every team shares WhatsApp Google Sheets Excel Gmail Slack ![Asana](https://workweaver.ai/assets/logos/asana.svg) ## Find the one bottleneck that moves your whole company. Bring it to a 30-minute call. We'll map it with you. Book a call with Founder Human version: https://workweaver.ai/workflows/stock-outs/