Doing some research on Kanban (think Toyota Production System that revolutionized JIT manufacturing etc), I've started developing a spreadsheet that uses some Kanban principles to visualize what bucket of brass I really should be working on next given I've got about 20 containers all with varying amounts of different caliber brass at different stages of case prep. A logical extension of this was component planning - how much powder/primer/bullets do I have on hand, how many cases in what state, and how many components do I need to acquire to achieve the planned number of reloads.
It's very high level, as it doesn't take into account multiple loads or bullet types per caliber, or the age of brass, but as a ready reckoner it was handy to see just how much powder I really need if I plan on saving all of my 223 brass and reloading it again etc.
Something like this might be of use for planning stockpiling of components appropriately, e.g. buying 5k SP and 5k SR primers means you had better be buying 16lb of rifle powder and 4lb of pistol powder etc rather than just an 8lb jug of each. There's a lot more detail that the spreadsheet could go into, e.g. 9mm FMJ vs JHP etc,what calibers use SR vs LR primers, what calibers share the same powder etc, but as a visual tool to help plan "what should I tackle next" and "what should I be buying" it's feeling handy. I can vary the # reloads value, e.g. set it to 1 just to see how much I need to buy to "load all of my empty brass", or set it to 3 to "load all empties and reload everything twice again".
Thought it might trigger some thoughts amongst those looking to do some forward planning purchases.
