Event-Driven Inventory: Know Every Change, Every Time
Traditional inventory systems track a single number that gets overwritten with every transaction. Loribase records every movement as an immutable event, creating a permanent history you can always trust.
The Loribase Difference
The problem with quantity-update systems
Every spreadsheet, most ERPs, and the majority of inventory apps work the same way: there is a number in a cell or database field that represents your current stock. When you receive a purchase, that number goes up. When you consume material in production, that number goes down. Simple, and dangerous.
The danger is what you lose in the process: the why. Why did the stock drop from 200 to 147? Was it production? A transfer? An adjustment? A mistake? In a quantity-update system, that information is permanently erased the moment the update happens. The history is gone.
This leads to a familiar set of problems: stock that "disappeared without reason", discrepancies discovered only during physical counts, production costs based on estimates because the actual batch price is unknown, and no way to trace a quality issue back to a specific purchase lot.
Model
What event-driven inventory means
In the event-driven model, nothing is ever overwritten. Every action that affects inventory (a purchase arriving, a production consuming raw materials, a reservation for a work order, a transfer between warehouses) is recorded as a discrete, permanent event. The current stock quantity is always derived from the sum of all events, never stored as a mutable value.
Purchase received
A new batch enters inventory. The event records the supplier, quantity, unit cost, and lot number. Stock increases.
Production consumption
Raw materials are consumed by a production run. The event records which batch was used (FIFO), the quantity, and the resulting product.
Reservation
Stock is committed to a work order or shipment. It remains physically present but is marked unavailable for other operations.
Transfer between locations
Stock moves between warehouses. Both the source and destination events are recorded simultaneously, maintaining a complete trail.
Manual adjustment
Physical counts sometimes reveal discrepancies. The adjustment event records the reason, the quantity changed, and who authorized it.
States
Four inventory states, always accurate
Because every event is recorded, Loribase can calculate four accurate states simultaneously, without any approximation or polling:
Physical stock
The precise quantity that physically exists in your warehouse right now. Increases with every purchase or production receipt. Decreases with confirmed consumption or outbound transfer.
Reserved stock
The quantity committed to an in-progress work order, production run, or confirmed shipment. Still physically present, but not available for other uses.
Available stock
Physical stock minus reserved. The only number you should use when planning new production or accepting customer orders.
Incoming stock
Confirmed but not yet received purchase orders. Know what is coming before it arrives so you can plan production without waiting for physical delivery.
Benefits
What you gain with event-driven inventory
Complete audit trail
Every stock movement has a timestamp, a user, a reason, and a link to the originating document (purchase order, production run, or adjustment). Nothing is ever unknown.
Accurate FIFO costing
Because purchase events carry the unit cost and date, Loribase knows exactly which batches were consumed by each production run, calculating real FIFO costs automatically, not estimates.
Lot traceability
You can trace any product batch forward (which productions used it) or backward (which purchase lot it came from). Essential for quality recalls, compliance, and expiry management.
No silent overwrites
Data cannot be silently changed. Any correction requires a new event with a reason. Your historic data is always intact and legally defensible.
Real-time without polling
Because state is derived from events, inventory visibility is always current, with no scheduled sync, no batch update, and no two-hour delay before numbers reflect reality.
Comparison
Event-driven vs. quantity-update: a practical comparison
Stock drops unexpectedly
Production cost calculation
Quality issue traced to a batch
Stock discrepancy found in count
Compliance or external audit
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