KEY METRICS TO TRACK FOR ELECTRICAL SUPPLY PRODUCTS IN BUILDING MATERIALS
Electrical supplies might be compact in size, but they pack a serious punch when it comes to inventory complexity. From wire gauges to conduit fittings, panels, breakers, and connectors — your electrical category probably includes hundreds, if not thousands, of SKUs.
That kind of volume requires precise tracking, smart purchasing, and continuous optimization. In this guide, we’ll break down the most critical metrics your team should monitor to keep electrical inventory profitable, available, and under control — especially when integrated with an ERP system tailored for the building materials space.
📈 INVENTORY TURN RATE
What it measures: How many times your inventory cycles through (sold and replenished) in a year.
For electrical items, this is one of the most important indicators of stock health.
Ideal range: 6–12 turns/year for high-movement items
Low turns (<4): Indicates overstock, dead stock, or poor forecasting
High turns (>12): May signal understocking and frequent stockouts
Why it matters:
Turn rate helps you balance cash flow with service levels. Slow-turning items tie up capital and space, while fast-turners that stock out lead to backorders and missed sales.
🛠️ ERP Actionable Insight:
Set up SKU-specific reorder thresholds based on turn data. Your ERP should allow dynamic min/max levels that adjust based on seasonal demand or historical trends.
📦 FILL RATE (ORDER FULFILLMENT RATE)
What it measures: The percentage of orders you can fulfill from current on-hand stock without delay or substitution.
A good target: 95%+ fill rate for your top 20% electrical SKUs
Lower fill rates = delays, rework, field team frustration, and customer churn
Why it matters:
Electrical materials are often needed on-site immediately — any delay can halt an entire project phase.
📍 How ERP Helps:
Track fill rate by item, by supplier, and by yard. If a certain warehouse or location is consistently underperforming, you can reroute stock or adjust stocking levels.
🧠 Pro Tip: Use your ERP to tie fill rate to job site timelines — know which backorders caused project delays.
🧯 DEAD STOCK RATIO
What it measures: The % of your electrical inventory that hasn’t moved in 90–180+ days.
Dead stock is a silent margin killer. In electrical, it’s often caused by:
Job-specific items no longer used
Obsolete parts from spec changes
Overstocked slow sellers
Discontinued product lines
Why it matters:
Dead stock consumes valuable shelf space and ties up working capital. It also creates clutter, which slows down pick/pack operations and increases error rates.
🔁 What You Can Do:
Bundle slow movers with high-demand SKUs
Discount and rotate them out
Convert some SKUs to special-order only
📊 ERP Fix:
Use inventory aging reports to automatically flag dead stock. Your ERP should let you sort by last transaction date, dollar value, and storage cost.
💲 CONTRIBUTION MARGIN PER SKU
What it measures: Your actual profit after accounting for all related costs — not just the purchase price.
Electrical products often have narrow base margins, but costs like:
Freight and fuel surcharges
Special packaging or crating
Handling labor
Returns or shrinkage
…can destroy profitability if not tracked closely.
📈 Why it matters:
If you’re only pricing based on base cost + markup, you’re leaving margin on the table — or worse, losing money.
🛠️ ERP Feature to Use:
Use landed cost tracking inside your ERP. It should automatically calculate the true cost of every item (including additional fees) and give your team visibility into margin per line item.
📍 INVENTORY ACCURACY (BY LOCATION AND BIN)
Electrical SKUs are often small, high-volume, and easy to misplace — think of tiny wire connectors, circuit breakers, or switch covers.
Inaccurate inventory here leads to:
Stockouts during picking
Manual re-counts
Slower fulfillment
Customer complaints
Why it matters:
Inaccurate counts create friction across your entire operation. You’ll end up with false stock visibility — where the ERP says “10 on hand” but only 4 are on the shelf.
✅ Fix It With ERP Tools:
Use barcode scanning for all put-away and picks
Set up cycle counts focused on fast-moving or high-value SKUs
Run discrepancy reports weekly by bin or product family
🔍 WARRANTY AND TRACEABILITY METRICS
Some electrical products (especially panels, switches, smart controllers) come with warranty periods or regulatory documentation.
You need to track:
Purchase date
Vendor batch or serial number
Job or customer tied to the purchase
Warranty expiration
💡 Use Case:
If a batch of GFCI outlets is recalled, can you trace exactly which customers and projects received them?
🧠 ERP Capability:
Ensure your ERP can support lot and serial number tracking — not just at the warehouse level, but all the way through dispatch and invoicing.
🏁 FINAL THOUGHTS
Managing electrical supply products isn’t just about stocking shelves — it’s about knowing which SKUs are profitable, which are liabilities, and how fast your operation can move them. These metrics give you the clarity needed to drive smarter purchasing, faster fulfillment, and better cash flow.
With the right ERP setup, your team can track these KPIs in real time — with no spreadsheets, no guesswork, and no missed margins.
📞 Want help customizing dashboards, inventory tracking, or landed cost formulas in your ERP? Reach out — our team specializes in building materials workflows and we’re ready to help.
