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For the CPO & Director of Procurement

The Procurement's Guide to Trapped Working Capital

Last updated July 2026

The short answer

To free working capital tied up in inventory, raise inventory turns and cut days sales of inventory (DSI) by removing excess and obsolete stock and right-sizing safety stock — without dropping fill rate. Maintained targets the exact SKUs holding cash hostage and protects service levels while it does.

What you're measured on

Speak in spend under management, percent on-contract, cost avoidance, and PO cycle time.

  • Cost savings / avoidance
  • PO cycle time
  • % spend under contract
  • Maverick-spend rate

Where the value is

  • Raise inventory turns / cut DSI on the SKUs holding the most cash
  • Remove excess and obsolete stock that never sells
  • Right-size safety stock without dropping fill rate
  • Give finance one trustworthy view of inventory value and risk

The pains this removes

  • Maverick and off-contract spend at 20–30% of indirect
  • Slow RFQ and quote cycles
  • Paying above fair market value with no benchmark
  • Tail-spend leakage nobody is watching

The numbers behind it

20–30% / year
Inventory carrying cost typically runs 20–30% of inventory value per year (often 25–40% for wholesale distributors).
Institute for Supply Management (via NetSuite)
20–30%
AI-driven optimization can cut inventory 20–30% while holding service levels, and reduce forecasting error up to 50%.
Epicor / MDM
~25% / year
Excess and obsolete inventory costs the typical distributor about 25% of its value every year in storage, shrinkage, and cost of capital.
Industrial Supply Magazine

Frequently asked questions

How should a Procurement approach free up working capital tied in inventory?

Speak in spend under management, percent on-contract, cost avoidance, and PO cycle time. To free working capital tied up in inventory, raise inventory turns and cut days sales of inventory (DSI) by removing excess and obsolete stock and right-sizing safety stock — without dropping fill rate. Maintained targets the exact SKUs holding cash hostage and protects service levels while it does.

What outcome should a Procurement expect?

Release the cash frozen in stock without hurting service. Raise inventory turns / cut DSI on the SKUs holding the most cash

See what your inventory is really costing you.

Tell us where the cash is trapped — excess stock, idle surplus, slow RFQs — and we'll show you the outcome Maintained can unlock.

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