How does the EBMS Purchasing page decide what to order?

The EBMS Purchasing page suggests an order when an item's Net Ordered (Count plus Purchase Orders minus Sales Orders) drops below its Minimum. It then suggests multiples of the Reorder Increment up to the Maximum. Koble's help does not spell out the exact cap, so check one item before relying on it. Lead time and future demand are not part of that sum.

This guide is for buyers using EBMS ERP by Koble (formerly Eagle Business Software). It follows Koble's current online help as we read it on 2026-10-01. Those pages do not name an EBMS version, so labels may differ slightly on older releases. For the full picture of what can be automated, see our pillar guide on how to automate purchasing in EBMS.

Where is the Purchasing page in EBMS?

Open it from the main menu with Inventory > Purchasing. It has two tabs: Purchasing, for stocked items, and Special Orders, for special order and drop-shipped items.

The list stays empty until you press F5 or click Find. Before that, narrow it down. You can filter by Vendor (with an option to search on primary vendor, which loads faster), by inventory Folder with or without subfolders, or with the Query button by warehouse or purchasing-tab data. Tick "Show items with order quantities" to see only lines that have an order amount entered.

What do the columns on the Purchasing page mean?

Three quantity columns drive everything: Count, Purchase Orders and Sales Orders. Net Ordered and On Hand are calculated from them, and the Minimum and Maximum come from the item record.

Net Ordered is the number to watch. It treats stock already on order as yours and stock already promised to customers as gone.

How are Minimum, Maximum and Reorder Increment used?

When Net Ordered is below the Minimum, EBMS prompts a purchase. Koble's help says it fills multiples of the Reorder Increment up to the Maximum. On the Purchasing page this field is labeled Order Amount.

All three fields live on the item's Count tab. Two edge cases matter:

• Minimum of zero. EBMS will not prompt a reorder until the item is used up, so the item can run out before anyone notices.
• Maximum of zero. The purchasing tool always suggests exactly one Reorder Increment.

You can type the levels by hand or calculate them with the Calculate Stock Level Settings utility, from average sales or purchases over a period you choose and, if needed, for one warehouse. Koble notes that a 12-month average suits seasonal items better than a 3-month one. Our guide to setting reorder points in EBMS walks through that setup.

What does a worked example look like?

Here is the arithmetic for three items, using made-up numbers for Brightline Supply buying from Ironwell Tools. Every figure is example data.

1. Pipe wrench. Net Ordered is 18 + 12 − 10 = 20, below the Minimum of 25, so EBMS suggests an order. Adding 24 gives 44, 48 gives 68, 72 gives 92 and 96 would give 116. Reading the Maximum as a cap on Net Ordered after the order, the largest multiple that fits is 72, so Net Ordered ends at 92. If your EBMS caps the order quantity itself instead, it would suggest 96.
2. Hex key set. Net Ordered is 4 + 0 − 1 = 3, below the Minimum of 6. The Maximum is zero, so EBMS suggests one Reorder Increment: 12.
3. Tube cutter. Net Ordered is 9 + 6 − 2 = 13, which is not below the Minimum of 10. No order is suggested.

Notice what the sum leaves out. If the pipe wrench sells 30 a month and Ironwell takes six weeks to deliver, 92 units may or may not be enough. The Purchasing page only knows the levels you set.

What do the stock level color codes mean?

EBMS can color items by how their count compares with the Minimum, as a percentage. In Koble's scheme, green or blue means stock is high, black means comfortable, and orange, red or fuchsia means low.

You set the "Up to %" bands and their colors yourself. The colors show in the Product Catalog. On the Purchasing page they appear only when "Colorize Stock Level %" is turned on, which Koble warns can slow the page, and the Calculate Stock Levels option should be on only if you use colors.

What are the best practices for using the Purchasing page?

Keep the inputs right, filter tightly and clear old quantities before each run. The page is only as good as the counts, open orders and levels behind it.

• Clear Orders first. Order Quantity is saved even for hidden items, so last week's numbers can ride along into this week's purchase order.
• Work one vendor at a time. Filter by Vendor, click Default Orders, adjust, then create the order. Our guide to creating purchase orders by vendor in EBMS covers each step.
• Never leave the Minimum at zero on stocked items unless running out is acceptable.
• Recalculate levels on a schedule. Levels set once drift as demand changes. A 12-month window suits seasonal items.
• Check the purchase method. Only Stocked (Standard) items are bought from stock levels. See which purchase method each EBMS item should use.

How does ReorderOwl do the same math?

ReorderOwl starts from the same EBMS data and adds the two things the plain Minimum and Maximum leave out: a sales forecast and the vendor's lead time. It is a purchasing agent for EBMS that you ask in Slack or ChatGPT.

It reads EBMS read-only: sales history, stock on hand, open purchase orders, the item's EBMS Minimum, its primary vendor and the vendor lead days. Its order target is the forecast demand over the lead time plus safety-stock days, plus the EBMS Minimum if you turn Minimums on, rounded up to the order increment. Safety stock is set as days of cover, with a company default and optional rules per vendor.

Each run comes with an Excel workbook that explains every line, including its lead time, its primary vendor and a sentence on the forecast method used for that item. A missing lead time shows as a blank red cell, so you can fix it in EBMS. When you approve, it saves the purchase orders in EBMS, and EBMS assigns the PO numbers. Nothing goes to a vendor until someone on your team sends it. See ReorderOwl for EBMS for how it is set up.

Frequently asked questions

What is Net Ordered in EBMS?

Net Ordered is Count plus quantity on open purchase orders minus quantity on open sales orders. EBMS compares it with the item's Minimum to decide whether to suggest a purchase.

Why is EBMS not suggesting an order for an item?

The most common reasons are that Net Ordered is not below the Minimum, the Minimum is zero, the item is not set to the Stocked purchase method, or your Vendor or Folder filter hides it. Also check that open purchase orders are not inflating Net Ordered.

Can EBMS order more than the Maximum?

Koble's help says Default Orders fills multiples of the Reorder Increment up to the Maximum. You can still type a larger Order Quantity by hand.

Does the EBMS Purchasing page use lead time or a forecast?

The Minimum, Maximum and Reorder Increment rule does not. Lead days set the ETA date on purchase orders. Forecasting is in the separate Advanced Inventory Management module, which can calculate predicted minimum and maximum levels for stocked items.

What does red mean on the EBMS Purchasing page?

Orange, red and fuchsia mark low stock compared with the Minimum, based on the percentage bands you set. Colors show on the Purchasing page only when Colorize Stock Level % is on.

Sources

1. Inventory Purchasing Page, Koble Systems, accessed 2026-10-01
2. Creating Purchasing Parameters, Koble Systems, accessed 2026-10-01
3. Stock Level Settings, Koble Systems, accessed 2026-10-01
4. Stock Level Color Codes, Koble Systems, accessed 2026-10-01
5. Inventory Forecasting Management, Koble Systems, accessed 2026-10-01
6. Estimated Time of Arrival (ETA) Date, Koble Systems, accessed 2026-10-01