Free Raw Material Inventory Tracker Excel Template
Track raw material stock by lot, location, supplier, and aging. Spot stockouts before they hit production and excess inventory before it ties up cash.
What you get
Working raw material tracker with lot-level detail, reorder point flags, supplier-by-supplier rollup, and aging analysis. The system that bridges from spreadsheet to MRP.
Free 30-day trial · No credit card required · Used by manufacturers since 1991
Why manufacturers still use Excel for this
Most small manufacturers run raw material on instinct. The buyer "knows" what is in stock. Production "knows" what is needed. The gap between the two shows up as either unplanned stockouts (production stops because nobody ordered) or unplanned excess (cash tied up in material that will not be used for 6 months).
A raw material tracker is the first step toward MRP without becoming MRP. It captures what is in stock by lot, where the lot lives, when it arrived, and which supplier provided it. Reorder points flag when stock dips below the trigger; aging surfaces lots that have been sitting too long.
For a small shop with under 200 raw material SKUs, this template handles inventory visibility. Past 200 SKUs or any multi-location operation, MRP becomes the right tool — but most shops outgrow this template gradually over 12–18 months, and the template carries the load until then.
What's inside the template
Material master
Material number, description, supplier, unit of measure, reorder point, reorder quantity, standard cost.
Lot-level stock
Lot number, material, quantity, location, received date, certificate reference. Multiple lots per material allowed.
Reorder flag
For each material, total on-hand quantity vs reorder point. Below reorder = red flag for buyer review.
Aging report
Lots aged 30/60/90/180/365 days from receipt. Aged lots tie up cash and risk expiring (for shelf-life materials).
Supplier rollup
Total on-hand value by supplier. Lets buyers see supplier concentration and negotiate at volume.
Stockout risk forecast
For each material, current stock ÷ average daily usage = days of supply. Below 7 days flags imminent stockout risk.
How to use this template
A practical walkthrough — five steps from blank spreadsheet to a working schedule.
- 1
Establish baseline through physical count
A spreadsheet tracker is only as good as the starting count. Do a physical count at startup. Without that, the system is fiction from day one.
- 2
Update at receipt and at issue
Receipts get logged when material arrives. Issues get logged when material goes to a work order. Either daily batch or transaction-level — daily batch is fine for small volume.
- 3
Set reorder points based on actual usage
Reorder point = average daily usage × lead time + safety stock. Use the last 90 days of usage to set it; revisit quarterly.
- 4
Review weekly with the buyer
The reorder-flag report is the buyer's weekly priority list. The aging report surfaces materials to use up or return. Two short reports drive purchasing discipline.
When you outgrow this template
Excel is the right answer for early-stage scheduling — until it isn't. Here are the warning signs that you need a real production scheduling tool.
If three or more of these apply, you have outgrown Excel scheduling. The good news: you do not have to leave Excel behind. Resource Manager for Excel (RMX) is a real finite-capacity scheduling engine that runs as an Excel add-in — so your team keeps the interface they know while gaining the scheduling power of a dedicated APS tool.
Learn about RMXFrequently asked questions
How is a raw material tracker different from MRP?+
A tracker tells you what you have. MRP tells you what you need to buy based on future demand from forecasts and orders. The tracker is a static snapshot; MRP is a forward-looking calculation. Start with the tracker; move to MRP when forward visibility matters more than current visibility.
How do I set reorder points correctly?+
Reorder point = (average daily usage × lead time in days) + safety stock. Use 90 days of actual usage to calculate average. Safety stock depends on demand variability — typically 1–2 weeks of usage for stable materials, 4+ weeks for volatile.
Should I track every raw material or just the expensive ones?+
ABC classify the SKUs: A items (80% of spend) get tight tracking with frequent counts. B items (15% of spend) get monthly review. C items (5% of spend) can run on a two-bin or visual system without full tracking. Tracking discipline scales with cost impact.
How often should I do physical counts?+
Cycle counting beats annual wall-to-wall. A counts: every 4–8 weeks. B counts: every quarter. C counts: annually. Cycle counts spread the work and surface errors before they accumulate into year-end disasters.
Get the free template — plus the tool that grew up around it
The template is the starting point. Resource Manager for Excel (RMX) is what manufacturers move to when their Excel scheduler starts breaking. 35+ years in production, free 30-day trial.