Inventory and supplier orders with Claude Cowork

TL;DR. Track stock, identify reorder needs, compare supplier quotes side-by-side, generate POs with rationale — for businesses with physical inventory or recurring services purchases. 4–6 hours per procurement cycle saved. The supplier comparison is where Cowork shines; the PO generation is the easy part.

Job to be done#

Track inventory levels, identify reorder needs, compare supplier quotes, and prep purchase orders with auditable rationale.

Who runs it#

Operations manager or procurement lead.

Inputs (inbox/)#

• Inventory snapshot (Excel, exported from your ERP or inventory tool)
• Reorder thresholds and supplier list
• Recent supplier quotes (PDFs in /inbox/quotes-[period]/)
• PO template

Outputs (output/)#

• restock-list-[date].xlsx — items below threshold, quantity to order
• supplier-comparison.xlsx — quotes side-by-side with score
• One PO per supplier in /output/POs-[date]/

Prompt seed#

Read /inbox/inventory-snapshot.xlsx and /inbox/reorder-thresholds.xlsx.
For each SKU below threshold, calculate order quantity
(target stock level minus current).
Read all supplier quotes in /inbox/quotes-[period]/.
Produce /output/supplier-comparison.xlsx with quotes side-by-side,
scored on price + lead time + reliability.
Pick a recommended supplier per SKU and explain why in a notes column.
Generate one PO per supplier in /output/POs-[date]/ using
/inbox/po-template.docx.
Plan the run before generating POs.

Quality bar#

• Reorder math always shown in a formula column, never just a number.
• Scoring weights explicit and stored in CLAUDE.md.
• POs have a "rationale" line so the procurement decision is auditable.
• Common trip-up: pricing tiers and break points. Pin them in CLAUDE.md.

Time saved (typical)#

4–6 hours per procurement cycle.

Upgrade path#

• Connector to your ERP or inventory system to skip the export step.
• A restock skill that runs weekly on a scheduled task.

Tinkso's take#

The supplier comparison is where Cowork shines. The PO generation is the easy part; the comparison is what saved the operations manager three hours of bouncing between PDFs trying to remember which quote had the better lead time. Build the comparison first; the POs come naturally from a good comparison.