To many people, par is the target score for a golf hole. In healthcare inventory management, PAR means much more: periodic automatic replenishment. It is a practical way to restock items in closets, shelves, carts, labs, production areas, and other locations where consumption may happen without a traditional inventory issue transaction.
PAR and Min/Max solve different problems
PAR and Min/Max both aim to place the right quantity in the right location, but they begin with different information. Min/Max generally relies on a system-maintained on-hand balance. PAR commonly relies on a person periodically observing or counting what remains at the point of use.
| Design question | Min/Max | PAR |
|---|---|---|
| What triggers replenishment? | A planning process evaluates system on-hand and configured thresholds. | A count, request, scan, or two-bin signal from the point of use. |
| What does the system know? | Usually a transactionally maintained inventory balance plus relevant supply and demand. | Often little about current physical quantity until someone records a count or request. |
| Typical use | Quantity-tracked inventory with controlled receipts, issues, and transfers. | High-turnover consumables or decentralized locations where usage is difficult to transact individually. |
| Order logic | Minimum, maximum, supply, demand, time horizon, and order modifiers can affect the result. | Logic depends on the PAR count method and count type; it can restore a level, request a preset quantity, or request an entered quantity. |
| Best mindset | Plan from trusted system inventory. | Replenish from an observation at the point of use. |
A Min/Max example
Suppose the shelf shows 10 units on hand. Open demand will issue 3 units and planned receipts will add 5. The effective quantity is:
10 − 3 + 5 = 12
If the minimum is 15 and the maximum is 25, the base reorder quantity is 13. A fixed-lot multiple of 2 could then produce 12 or 14 depending on the configured rounding behavior. Min/Max can also consider minimum order quantities and other planning controls. The important point is that the calculation starts with a trusted system balance and planned activity.
Why PAR exists
Many PAR locations contain expensed items: large quantities of low individual value, consumed frequently, and not worth issuing one unit at a time. The same item may be tracked as inventory in a central warehouse and then expensed when delivered in smaller quantities to a point-of-use location.
Because items may be taken from a PAR location without a transaction, the system cannot always infer what remains. A person visits or scans the location and records a replenishment signal. The count frequency can reflect item criticality and turnover—multiple times per day, daily, weekly, or as needed.
Count methods and count types
On-Hand Quantity
User supplies: the quantity currently present.
The application compares the entered quantity with the PAR level and creates replenishment for the difference when appropriate. If 15 remain and the PAR level is 20, the replenishment quantity is 5.
Order PAR
User supplies: a replenishment signal rather than an on-hand count.
The application requests the configured PAR quantity. This supports a two-bin approach: when one bin is depleted, the second enters service while replenishment restores the missing bin.
Order Quantity
User supplies: the quantity to request.
The entered quantity becomes the replenishment quantity. A configured PAR maximum can act as a reasonableness safeguard against an accidental large request.
Not Planned
Purpose: retain settings while excluding a specific item from PAR replenishment.
This provides item-level control when the location uses PAR but one item should not participate.
Mobile and offline counting
Oracle’s current mobile PAR experience supports scanning a PAR location or selecting it from a list, recording counts, triggering two-bin and Order PAR replenishment, overriding replenishment quantity where configured, and ending a count to submit the results. Oracle also documents offline counting: the user first connects to select and cache an organization, records counts without connectivity, and synchronizes when the device reconnects.
That matters because point-of-use locations are not always near a workstation—or even reliable connectivity. A mobile workflow can remove the need to translate handwritten counts later. Teams should still test device support, barcode quality, offline synchronization, roles, error recovery, and accessible alternatives for users who cannot use a camera or scan gesture.
PAR beyond healthcare
Healthcare made PAR familiar because nursing units, procedure rooms, and supply carts consume many low-value items. The operating pattern is broader than the industry label. Any organization with decentralized, frequently used supplies may benefit.
- Manufacturing supply closets near an assembly line
- Cleaning and safety supplies distributed from a central warehouse
- Research labs with supply rooms on several floors
- Maintenance carts or storerooms with predictable turnover
- Campus or field-service locations where individual issues create unnecessary effort
The goal is not to replace Min/Max everywhere. It is to choose the mechanism that matches how consumption is observed and controlled.
Choose the right model
- Start with inventory truth. If every movement is reliably transacted and the system balance is trusted, Min/Max may be the natural foundation.
- Look at the point of use. If people take consumables without individual issues, a periodic visual or physical signal may be more realistic.
- Match the count method to the work. Use Count when the remaining quantity matters, Request when the user knows the quantity needed, and Two Bin when a visual swap can trigger a standard replenishment.
- Design sourcing and delivery. Confirm whether replenishment creates a purchase requisition, interorganization transfer, intraorganization transfer, or movement request, and how material reaches the final location.
- Set controls proportionately. Use reasonable PAR levels, units of measure, count tolerances, maximum quantities, item exceptions, and role assignments.
Implementation checklist
- Document the location, item population, consumption pattern, count frequency, and replenishment source.
- Decide whether the PAR location is quantity tracked or non-quantity tracked.
- Set the count method and default count type, then identify item-level exceptions.
- Validate units of measure, PAR levels, maximum quantities, reasonableness checks, and tolerances.
- Test purchase and internal-transfer sourcing end to end, including final delivery.
- Test mobile scanning, manual selection, offline operation, synchronization, and error recovery.
- Provide keyboard-accessible and non-camera alternatives, clear labels, visible focus, and error messages that identify the affected field.
- Pilot with representative counters, storeroom staff, buyers, and inventory managers before scaling.
For current setup and behavior, see Oracle’s documentation for PAR Location Counts and mobile PAR counts.
Knowledge check
PAR replenishment decisions
Choose one answer for each question, then select Check answers.