Fill Rate#
The fraction of demand satisfied directly from inventory.
Important
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What it is#
Fill Rate is a supply-chain and inventory metric measuring the percentage of customer demand met immediately from available stock, without delay. It answers: of everything customers wanted, how much did we deliver on time and in full, from stock? A high fill rate means availability; a low one means frequent shortages, backorders and delays.
The formulas#
It has three common forms. Order fill rate divides orders completely fulfilled by total orders; line fill rate divides order lines completely fulfilled by total order lines; and unit fill rate divides units delivered on the first shipment by total units ordered — each expressed as a percentage,
A worked example#
A week’s demand is 1,000 units; the warehouse ships 970 immediately and backorders the remaining 30. The fill rate is 970 / 1,000 = 97% — 97% of demand satisfied instantly from stock.
Why it matters, and its mirror#
Fill rate drives customer satisfaction and revenue, signals forecasting and replenishment health, and is benchmarked at 95-98% across many industries. It is the exact complement of the stockout rate: \(\text{Fill Rate} = 100\% - \text{Stockout Rate}\).
Theme: Operations & Supply Chain · All terminology
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Mind map — connected ideas
Backorder Rate · Stockout Rate · Lost Sales Value · Safety Stock · Ops Health Dashboard · SLA (Service Level Agreement)
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More in Operations & Supply Chain
Backorder Rate · Crew Overtime · Demand Forecasting · Long Lead Times · Long-Tail Items · Lost Sales Value · Overstock % · Real-Time Inventory Tracking · Reorder Point (ROP) Optimization · Safety Stock · SKU · Slow-Moving SKUs · Stockout Rate · Stockouts
See also
Source article Adapted (context, re-expressed) in our own words from: Fill Rate (insightful-data-lab.com).