Fill Rate Calculator
This calculator determines the Fill Rate of an order, which is the percentage of goods shipped compared to the quantity originally ordered. It's a key metric for measuring order fulfillment effectiveness.
Enter the Quantity Ordered and the Quantity Shipped to calculate the Fill Rate. Ensure both quantities are in the same unit (e.g., number of items, weight, volume).
Enter Quantities
Understanding Fill Rate
What is Fill Rate?
Fill Rate is a performance metric used in logistics and supply chain management. It measures the percentage of customer orders that are fulfilled from available stock without backorders or stockouts. A high fill rate indicates efficient inventory management and order fulfillment.
Fill Rate Formula
The most basic Fill Rate formula is:
Fill Rate (%) = (Quantity Shipped / Quantity Ordered) * 100
This calculator uses this fundamental formula.
Why is Fill Rate Important?
- Customer Satisfaction: Higher fill rates usually lead to happier customers as they receive their full order promptly.
- Cost Efficiency: Backorders and split shipments increase logistics costs. A high fill rate minimizes these extra expenses.
- Inventory Management: Analyzing fill rate can highlight issues with stock levels, forecasting, or warehouse processes.
- Supplier Performance: If you are measuring fill rate from a supplier, it indicates their reliability in delivering goods.
Fill Rate Examples
Click on an example to see the inputs and resulting calculation:
Example 1: Perfect Order
Scenario: A customer orders 100 units, and you ship all 100 units.
Inputs: Quantity Ordered = 100, Quantity Shipped = 100
Calculation: (100 / 100) * 100% = 100%
Result: Fill Rate = 100%. This is a perfect fulfillment.
Example 2: Small Shortage
Scenario: An order for 100 items arrives, but you only have 95 in stock to ship immediately.
Inputs: Quantity Ordered = 100, Quantity Shipped = 95
Calculation: (95 / 100) * 100% = 95%
Result: Fill Rate = 95%. 5% of the ordered quantity was not fulfilled from initial stock.
Example 3: Smaller Order, Full Shipment
Scenario: A local shop orders 50 bags of coffee, and you ship 50 bags.
Inputs: Quantity Ordered = 50, Quantity Shipped = 50
Calculation: (50 / 50) * 100% = 100%
Result: Fill Rate = 100%.
Example 4: Moderate Shortage
Scenario: A distribution center orders 50 units of a popular item, but you can only ship 40 units due to low stock.
Inputs: Quantity Ordered = 50, Quantity Shipped = 40
Calculation: (40 / 50) * 100% = 80%
Result: Fill Rate = 80%. This indicates a significant portion of the order was not immediately filled.
Example 5: Large Order Fulfillment
Scenario: A large retailer orders 200 units of a new product, and you ship 180 units.
Inputs: Quantity Ordered = 200, Quantity Shipped = 180
Calculation: (180 / 200) * 100% = 90%
Result: Fill Rate = 90%.
Example 6: Small Order, Full Shipment
Scenario: A trial order is placed for 10 samples, and all 10 are shipped.
Inputs: Quantity Ordered = 10, Quantity Shipped = 10
Calculation: (10 / 10) * 100% = 100%
Result: Fill Rate = 100%.
Example 7: Complete Stockout
Scenario: An item is ordered (10 units), but you have zero stock and ship nothing.
Inputs: Quantity Ordered = 10, Quantity Shipped = 0
Calculation: (0 / 10) * 100% = 0%
Result: Fill Rate = 0%. This means the entire ordered quantity could not be fulfilled.
Example 8: Non-Round Numbers
Scenario: An order is for 75 units, and you ship 70 units.
Inputs: Quantity Ordered = 75, Quantity Shipped = 70
Calculation: (70 / 75) * 100% ≈ 93.33%
Result: Fill Rate ≈ 93.33%.
Example 9: Large Scale Fulfillment
Scenario: A distributor orders 1000 widgets, and you ship 985 widgets.
Inputs: Quantity Ordered = 1000, Quantity Shipped = 985
Calculation: (985 / 1000) * 100% = 98.5%
Result: Fill Rate = 98.5%.
Example 10: Small Number Shortage
Scenario: A workshop orders 10 bolts of a specific size, but you only have 8 in stock.
Inputs: Quantity Ordered = 10, Quantity Shipped = 8
Calculation: (8 / 10) * 100% = 80%
Result: Fill Rate = 80%.
Frequently Asked Questions about Fill Rate
1. What is Fill Rate?
Fill Rate is a metric that indicates the percentage of an order's requested quantity that was shipped to the customer from the initial stock available.
2. How is Fill Rate Calculated?
The basic calculation is (Quantity Shipped / Quantity Ordered) * 100%.
3. Why is calculating Fill Rate important?
It helps businesses understand their inventory accuracy, warehouse efficiency, and customer satisfaction levels regarding product availability.
4. What is a good Fill Rate?
What's considered "good" varies by industry. High-demand, essential goods often aim for 95-99%+. Lower-cost or easily substituted items might accept slightly lower rates. Generally, higher is better.
5. Can Fill Rate be more than 100%?
No. You cannot ship more than what was ordered if you are calculating quantity fill rate based on a single order line or total order quantity. The maximum Fill Rate is 100%.
6. What causes a low Fill Rate?
Common causes include inaccurate inventory records, poor forecasting, stockouts from suppliers, damage or quality issues in the warehouse, or inefficient picking/packing processes.
7. How can I improve my Fill Rate?
Improve inventory accuracy, enhance demand forecasting, optimize safety stock levels, improve communication with suppliers, streamlne warehouse operations, and reduce damage/shrinkage.
8. Is Fill Rate the same as Order Fill Rate or Line Item Fill Rate?
This calculator performs a simple Quantity Fill Rate. Order Fill Rate measures the percentage of orders shipped complete (binary: yes/no for each order). Line Item Fill Rate measures the percentage of line items on an order that were fulfilled completely. Quantity Fill Rate focuses purely on the total units.
9. Does Fill Rate only apply to physical products?
While most commonly used for physical goods inventory, the concept can be adapted to services or digital fulfillment where a specific quantity was requested vs. delivered.
10. What happens if the Quantity Ordered is zero?
Fill Rate is typically not calculated if the Quantity Ordered is zero, as it would involve division by zero. The calculator will show an error in this case, as a fill rate metric requires a non-zero quantity to have been ordered.
