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Low-Stock Indicators & Alerts

TimberCloud watches your stock levels and warns your team when an item runs low — both visually in the inventory screens and with an in-app alert. This page explains exactly what "low stock" means, what you'll see, and — importantly — what TimberCloud does not do automatically.

Availability: Low-stock thresholds, indicators, and the in-app alert come with inventory tracking — Build plan and up. The Shop → Inventory browse dashboard where you filter by stock health is Production. See Subscriptions & Plans.

Does TimberCloud tell me when to reorder?

Short answer: yes, with an in-app notification — but it won't reorder for you.

When an item's stock crosses below the threshold you set, TimberCloud:

  • flags the item amber/red in the inventory screens, and
  • sends an in-app Low Inventory Alert to your team through the notification bell.

What it does not do:

  • No automatic reordering. TimberCloud never raises a purchase order on its own.
  • No reorder-point PO generation. There's no "reorder quantity" that auto-drafts a PO.
  • No email or SMS alert. The Low Inventory Alert is delivered in-app only, through the notification bell — it is not emailed or texted.

So the alert is your cue to act: when you see it, head to Purchasing and raise a purchase order yourself.

Setting the threshold

Each inventory field at each location has a low-stock threshold — the level at or below which the item is considered "low."

  1. Go to Products → Attributes and open the attribute.
  2. Click the inventory item's stock cell to open the Location Inventory modal.
  3. Set the Low Stock Threshold for the location's row.
  4. Click Save Changes.

Set thresholds based on your lead time and how fast the item sells — enough cushion to reorder and receive before you actually run out. See Managing Inventory for the full editing walkthrough.

Tip: You can set thresholds for many items at once, per location, with the Batch Inventory Update flow on the same Attributes page.

What the indicators mean

TimberCloud flags each item by its stock health:

StateMeaning
Out of StockQuantity is 0
Low (amber)At or below the threshold
OK (green)Above the threshold

You'll see these badges in the Location Inventory modal (In Stock / Low Stock), in the read-only Shop → Inventory detail view (Low / OK per location), and on the dashboard cards and list rows.

Behind the scenes, each stock record carries a low-stock flag that TimberCloud recalculates whenever the quantity or threshold changes. That flag is what drives the badges, the filters, and the alert.

Finding low items on the dashboard

On the Shop → Inventory dashboard (Production), you have two quick ways to surface low items:

  • Click the Low Stock KPI card at the top to filter the list to low items.
  • Set the Stock filter dropdown to Low Stock (or Out of Stock).

From there you can review what needs replenishing and go raise the necessary purchase orders. See the Inventory overview for the rest of the dashboard.

The Low Inventory Alert notification

When an item transitions from OK to low — typically because an order just drew it down past the threshold — TimberCloud creates a Low Inventory Alert and pushes it live to your team's notification bell.

  • Who gets it: every team member on the company except customers. Staff and admins see it; customer accounts do not.
  • What it says: the attribute and option name, the inventory field, the location, how much remains, and the threshold — for example: "Low Inventory Alert — Hardwood Lumber - Red Oak 1x6 Select — Stock BF at Main Warehouse — 42.00 remaining (threshold: 50.00)."
  • When it fires: only on the crossing — when an item goes from OK to low. It won't re-fire on every subsequent order while it stays low.
  • Channel: in-app notification bell only. No email, no SMS.

A simple reorder routine

Since reordering is manual, a good rhythm is:

  1. Set realistic thresholds on your fast movers, sized to your lead time.
  2. Watch the bell — a Low Inventory Alert is your prompt to act.
  3. Or scan the dashboard periodically using the Low Stock filter (Production).
  4. Raise a PO to your vendor from Purchasing.
  5. Post the receipt when goods arrive to bring stock back up. See Receiving.

Next Steps

PreviousManaging InventoryNextMulti-Location Inventory