Launch offer — 25% off with code LAUNCH-25 See plans →
Microlesson · 5-min read

Economic Order Quantity (EOQ)

## Economic Order Quantity (EOQ)

Meaning: The order quantity at which the Total Raw-Material Inventory Maintenance Cost is minimum.

### Assumptions (all constant & known)

1. Annual Consumption (A)

2. Purchase Price per unit

3. Ordering Cost per order (O)

4. Carrying Cost per unit p.a. (C)

5. No closing stock

6. No lead time

### Total RM Inventory Cost = three parts

ComponentFormula
Purchase Cost (PC)A × Purchase Price per unit
Total Ordering Cost (TOC)(A ÷ Q) × O
Total Carrying Cost (TCC)(Q ÷ 2) × C

(Q = order quantity; average inventory = Q/2.)

### EOQ Formula

$$EOQ = \sqrt{\dfrac{2AO}{C}}$$

### Total Relevant Cost

At EOQ, TOC = TCC, so:

$$\text{Total Relevant Cost} = TOC + TCC = \sqrt{2AOC}$$

### Supporting computations

  • Number of orders = A ÷ EOQ
  • Time gap between two orders = (365 / 12 / 52 / 360) ÷ Number of orders (use days / months / weeks as required)

### EOQ with different price levels (quantity discounts)

When suppliers offer price breaks by quantity range, EOQ formula alone won't decide. Instead: pick an arbitrary representative quantity from each price range, compute total RM inventory cost (Purchase + Ordering + Carrying) at each, and select the range with the minimum total cost.

Worked example

### Example 1

Basic EOQ: A = 12,000 units, O = ₹150 per order, C = ₹4 per unit p.a.

EOQ = √(2 × 12,000 × 150 ÷ 4) = √(36,00,000 ÷ 4) = √9,00,000 = 1,500 units.

Number of orders = 12,000 ÷ 1,500 = 8 orders.

Total Relevant Cost = √(2 × 12,000 × 150 × 4) = √1,44,00,000 = ₹6,000 (and TOC = TCC = ₹3,000 each).

### Example 2

Time gap: With 8 orders per year, time between orders = 365 ÷ 8 ≈ 45.6 days (or 12 ÷ 8 = 1.5 months).

⚠️ Common exam mistakes

  • Placing carrying cost C in the numerator instead of the denominator of the EOQ formula.
  • Including purchase cost in the 'relevant cost' when price per unit is constant — only ordering + carrying are relevant then.
  • Using full order quantity Q for carrying cost instead of average inventory Q/2.
  • With quantity discounts, blindly applying the EOQ formula instead of comparing total cost across each price range.
  • Mixing up days/weeks/months when computing the time gap between orders.
Reference:
Now that you've read this — what's next?
Move from understanding → mastery in 3 clicks. Each option below picks up from this lesson's topic.
Start 15-min diagnostic