Every stock system can tell you that a reference is at four units. Almost none can tell you whether four is a problem.
Purchasing looks at the same number differently. It reads your sales history for the reference, finds that last year it sold out in the third week of November, sees that the current run rate is slightly higher than last year's, and knows from your handbook that the supplier needs eight weeks.
Then it writes a proposal, not an alert.
What the proposal says
Order 12 more of ref. 1092 steel before 1 October. Reason: last Q4 sold out by week 3 of November. Current run rate plus 8 percent. Supplier lead time eight weeks, as recorded in your handbook. Suggested quantity covers December with a margin of three units.
Every line points to the number it came from. If you disagree with the run rate, you can see where it was measured.
What you do
You change the number or approve it. Twelve becomes ten, or stays twelve. Nothing is ordered until you tap. Spending money is one of the actions that always waits for a person, and it waits however long you take.
Why the reason matters
A stock alert makes you do the thinking at the worst moment, when the number is already low. A proposal does the thinking early and shows its work. You spend your attention on the decision, not on the arithmetic.
And when you correct the proposal, the correction is written into the handbook. Next season the system already knows that ref. 1092 gets a bigger margin because you said so in September.
What it never does
Order on its own. Guess a lead time it did not find. Round a number without telling you.
Seasonality included. Reason attached. Your number wins.
