Free template
Free DDMRP Excel template
A spreadsheet that sizes red, yellow and green buffers, nets stock and open orders, and lists what to order today, most urgent first. Every cell is a formula you can inspect.
By Dan K., CPIM, DDMRP certified · Updated October 16, 2026
Drafted with AI assistance; every worked example is recomputed in code before publishing.
Download the template (.xlsx, about 450 KB)
In short: fill in your items, lead times, order rules and on-hand stock, paste usage history and open orders, and the template works out average daily usage, buffer zones, net flow position, zone, planning priority and order quantity for each item. It ships with 12 made-up example items so you can see it working before you add your own.
What's in the workbook
Sheets in the template
| Sheet | What you do there |
|---|---|
| Start here | Set the plan date, ADU window, spike threshold and horizon, and read today's summary: items per zone, orders to place, on-hand alerts. |
| Profiles | Nine starting buffer profiles (short, medium and long lead time × low, medium and high variability) with editable factors. |
| Buffers | One row per item. You fill in SKU, profile, lead time, MOQ, order multiple, order cycle and on hand; the rest is calculated. |
| Usage | Paste usage history. ADU is the usage in the window before the plan date divided by the window length. |
| Open supply | Paste open purchase, production and transfer orders. All count as on order; late ones are flagged. |
| Open demand | Paste open customer orders. Each line shows whether it is past due, due today, a spike or covered by the buffer. |
Yellow cells are inputs; white cells are formulas. Delete the example rows before pasting your own data.
The formulas it uses
ADU = usage in the last N days ÷ N(N = 90 by default), unless you enter a manual ADU for an item.Red = ADU × DLT × lead time factor × (1 + variability factor)Yellow = ADU × DLTGreen = largest of MOQ, ADU × DLT × lead time factor, and ADU × order cycleNet flow position = on hand + all open supply − qualified demand, where qualified demand is past-due and due-today demand plus any future day within the spike horizon whose total reaches the spike threshold (50% of red by default).- When net flow is at or below the top of yellow,
order = top of green − net flow, raised to the MOQ and rounded up to the order multiple, or to whole units if there is none. Priority = net flow ÷ top of green. Sort ascending to work the most urgent items first.
The guides walk through each step with numbers: buffer zones, average daily usage and net flow position.
The example data, calculated
These are the template's results for its made-up example items, rounded for display:
Example results from the Buffers sheet · Swipe sideways to see all columns.
| SKU | ADU | Top of red | Top of yellow | Top of green | Net flow | Zone | Priority | Order |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CPL-JAW-L100 | 4.81 | 76 | 177 | 244 | 10 | Red | 4.1% | 235 |
| MTR-1HP-TEFC | 0.82 | 25 | 71 | 96 | 14 | Red | 14.6% | 82 |
| BRG-6204 | 36.68 | 578 | 1,348 | 1,861 | 521 | Red | 28.0% | 1,350 |
| GRS-EP2-14 | 18.83 | 237 | 463 | 727 | 250 | Yellow | 34.4% | 480 |
| VLV-BALL-1 | 2.71 | 68 | 144 | 201 | 76 | Yellow | 37.8% | 126 |
| SEAL-KIT-220 | 12.19 | 137 | 320 | 442 | 221 | Yellow | 50.0% | 221 |
| GSKT-150-RF | 26.11 | 294 | 685 | 1,051 | 757 | Green | 72.0% | – |
| FLT-HYD-10 | 5.38 | 85 | 273 | 434 | 317 | Green | 73.0% | – |
| HOSE-38-50 | 4.24 | 45 | 87 | 117 | 105 | Green | 90.0% | – |
| BOLT-M8-40 | 424.09 | 2,598 | 5,566 | 11,503 | 15,530 | Above green | 135.0% | – |
| BLT-A42 | 2.29 | 24 | 56 | 106 | 170 | Above green | 160.3% | – |
| SNSR-PROX-12 | 0.00 | – | – | – | – | No recent demand | – | – |
GRS-EP2-14 shows the spike rule at work: an order for 150 units due in 5 days reaches the 119-unit threshold (50% of its 237-unit red zone), so it is subtracted from net flow and the order rises to 480, a multiple of its 24-unit pack size.
How we checked it
The template was recalculated in LibreOffice with zero formula errors, and every result for the example items was compared with the online planner's calculation engine: 216 of 216 values matched. A second run with edge cases (a manual ADU, a missing lead time, an unknown profile, an MOQ larger than the buffer and a shorter spike horizon) also matched 216 of 216. An independent code review then tested boundary cases: due dates with a time of day, SKUs containing *, ? or ~, SKUs stored as a number on one sheet and as text on another, a fractional ADU window and a default profile that doesn't exist. Each now gives the same answer as the planner.
Limits
- There is no location column. For several sites, make the SKU unique per site, for example
BRG-6204@DAL. - Keep each SKU in the same form on every sheet. A SKU typed as a number on one sheet and as text on another is matched, but dropping leading zeros on only one sheet (
00123vs123) can mix up or miss items. - No demand adjustment factors, bill-of-material explosion or decoupling-point analysis: it plans the items you list as buffered.
- Dates must be real dates, not text. If a pasted date column is left-aligned, convert it first.
FAQ
Is the template free?
Yes. Download it without signing up or leaving an email address, and change it however you like for your own planning.
Does it work in Google Sheets or LibreOffice?
It is an Excel workbook (.xlsx) that uses only long-standing functions: SUMIFS, INDEX, MATCH, ROUNDUP and COUNTIF. We checked it in LibreOffice Calc. Google Sheets supports the same functions; open it there with File > Import.
How many items does it handle?
Formulas are filled down for 500 items and 2,000 open supply and open demand lines. Copy the formula rows further down for more. For thousands of items, the free planner is faster and imports ERP exports directly.
How is it different from the online planner?
Both use the same rules, and the template was checked against the planner's calculations. The template is easy to change, share and audit cell by cell. The planner imports CSV exports with automatic column matching, handles locations, demand adjustment factors and more date and number formats, and keeps your data in your browser between sessions.
Is this an official DDMRP template?
No. It is an independent template based on the publicly documented method. It isn't affiliated with, endorsed or certified by the Demand Driven Institute. Treat its results as decision support and review every order before you place it.