Production Lists

“Production List” is the term for those products which are produced to send to Amazon FBA Inventory.  As of the time of this writing, Production Lists are compiled twice per week for amazon.com and as needed for amazon.ca and amazon.co.uk.  The KPS compiles the Production List (PL) based off of the inventory levels and current sales velocities of each FBA listing.  The following is a step-by-step procedure for compiling a PL:

• In Amazon Seller-Central, go the ‘Reports’ tab and select ‘Amazon Selling Coach.’
• Select ‘Restock Inventory Report for FBA Units.’
• Select the button ‘Download Report’ and request a download on the new page.
• The downloaded report will be in ‘.txt’ format and may inserted directly into the “AMZ USA Inventory Tool” (Google Sheets Workbook) on the sheet ‘PL Data.’
• Columns should be arranged in the following order: ASIN, Merchant SKU, Product Name, Days of Supply, Total Units, Units Sold Last 30 Days, Recommended Order Qty.  The information in the remaining columns non-essential.
• Sort this sheet in ascending order, according to Days of Supply.
• Copy data excluding the header row through 59 Days of Supply.  Delete data on the ‘Production List Creator’.  Paste new data (using the Ctrl+Shift+V function to match formatting).
• The ‘Production List Creator’ apply certain conditional formatting rules and VLOOKUP functions to organize the information on which listings need to be ordered, have been ordered, or should not be ordered.
• If column J appears as #N/A, then that product is not included on an active PL and it needs to be ordered.  To determine the quantity to order refer to columns G-I which reference Amazon’s suggestion, a projection based on the last 30 days of sales, and a projection based on the last 6 months of sales.
• Each entry on the ‘AMZ Production List’ will include applicable content for columns A-G.
• Continue this process for each listing through 49 Days of Supply.
• When done entering info for each product that needs to be made, sort the newly compiled data in ascending order of SKU.
• Go back to Seller Central and select ‘Manage Inventory’ under ‘Inventory’.
• Search for the first SKU on the new PL and select ‘Send/Replenish Inventory’.
• This will open a new Shipping Plan.  Add all of the SKUs and quantities.
• After confirming quantities, Amazon will dictate to which Fulfillment Centers the products will be sent and in which quantities.
• This information should then be recorded as part of the PL.

The main goal of this process is to maintain a  healthy balance of FBA Inventory levels.  When products are ordered too far out, then the inventory is overstocked, resulting in storage fees.  Sending too much of a given product will also have this result.  On the other hand, if a given product is not ordered quickly enough, the inventory will run out of stock and the listing will go inactive.  An inactive listing equals loss of potential sales.  The last element to be considered is the strain on production.  Items ought to be made in such a quantity that make efficient use of production resources.