Demo 01 · Margin X-Ray · free · no sign-up

X-ray your price file. Find the leaks in seconds.

Your file isn’t one price list. Every supplier line is priced by its own rule, and nobody wrote them down. The X-Ray reads each line’s rule straight from your file, then runs 35 checks for the leaks distributors actually have: supplier increases that never reached the price or the invoice, costs behind the supplier’s file, contracts and SPAs under floor or long expired, claims and rebates never collected, freight your own terms say the customer pays, and vending machines billing the wrong price. It all happens inside this browser tab.

It works the same for a $10 million distributor as a $400 million one. Start with your price file, then add contracts, invoices, vending, your customer master and supplier programs to unlock every check.

Choose a sample distributor

Sample data · fictional distributor 23 supplier lines · 24 vending machines

  1. Price file14,000 items Loaded
  2. Contracts & SPAs4,662 lines Loaded
  3. Vending log19,612 log rows Loaded
  4. Invoices / sales history95,313 lines Loaded
  5. Customer master2,333 lines Loaded
  6. Supplier programs16 lines Loaded

About four seconds · nothing uploaded ·

Before you run it

20 lines, 20 rulebooks.

A distributor’s price file is not one price list. Each supplier line is priced by its own rule: a multiplier off the supplier’s list, cost-plus by class, or a cost matrix. A master distributor can carry two at once. Tier discounts differ by class, cases are bought and pieces sold, and nobody wrote the rules down. In a March 2026 study, 36% of distributors had no structured price segmentation at all (DSG pricing study, n=128).

  • One rule per line, read from your file. Each line is judged against its own rule, never one target for everything.
  • Two rules on one supplier? It is split by product class and each part is read on its own.
  • A setup error is not a loss. A case cost on an each price is flagged as a unit-of-measure error, at $0.
  • Each class at its own tier discount. Key accounts may get 12% off end mills and nothing off towels.

Not sure your file is that messy?

List × multiplier, by class Cost-plus: cost × 1.45 Cost matrix (price ÷ cost) $25$100 Two rules, one supplier
Each dot is an item: its supplier list or cost across, its book price up (the matrix panel shows price ÷ cost, so its steps show). The rule is the line the dots sit on. A supplier with two rules shows two lines: the X-Ray reads each.

Inspection chamber

Part Meridian Sample Supply (fictional) · items, contracts, vending Items 14,000 Checks 35 Ready

Chamber ready · 14,000 items loaded

In toleranceOut of toleranceClass target margin at book
  1. 01Supplier increase not passed through—
  2. 02Stale cost vs the supplier’s file—
  3. 03Off the line’s own pricing rule—
  4. 04Sells below cost to a customer tier—
  5. 05Under the class target margin for a tier—
  6. 06Contract or SPA price under its floor—
  7. 07Expired contract still in use—
  8. 08Unclaimed supplier rebate (SPA claim)—
  9. 09UOM or pack error—
  10. 10Same part under two suppliers, two prices—
  11. 11Override leakage—
  12. 12Missing cost, class or supplier—
  13. 13Duplicate SKU—
  14. 14Zero or missing price—
  15. 15Obsolete item still priced—
  16. 16Quantity break inverted—
  17. 17Quantity breaks flat—
  18. 18Bigger size priced under a smaller one—
  19. 19Vending price drift—
  20. 20Vending dispensed but not billed—
  21. 21Vending bin not moving (180+ days)—
  22. 22Price increase didn’t land on invoices—
  23. 23Invoice lines sold below cost—
  24. 24Priced on a lagging average cost—
  25. 25Tariff surcharge or refund not unwound—
  26. 26Freight terms not applied—
  27. 27Small orders, no minimum charge—
  28. 28Supplier rebate earned, not received—
  29. 29Rebate tier within reach—
  30. 30Contract with no end date—
  31. 31Contract price used outside its ship-tos—
  32. 32Volume commitment missed—
  33. 33Customer in a better tier than its spend—
  34. 34Expired quote still honoured—
  35. 35Period-end discount spillover—
Items inspected0
Out of tolerance0
Leak, est. per year$0

Your rules · 42 decisions · nothing saved or sent

Every judgment call, yours to make.

To call a price wrong, the X-Ray has to assume a policy: what each tier pays, what a class should earn, how long a claim may lag. These are all of them, each written as the small decision it is, with our recommended default, why, and the benchmark behind it. Most have no public benchmark, and each card says so. On the sample the defaults are Meridian’s own (fictional) settings, not industry norms. On your files, a dollar measured only against one of our defaults stays out of your headline until you confirm it. Change one and the X-Ray re-runs on the spot.

  1. Read the question. Each card is one decision, with an example in Meridian’s numbers.
  2. Set your policy. Our default is a starting point. Yours wins.
  3. See the impact. Findings and dollars move live, on the card and below.
  4. Keep the rulebook. Download your choices: the first page of a real engagement.
Meridian sample 1,980 findings $273,203/yr PTAI defaults

The five that move the most

Who pays what PTAI default

What discount off book does each customer tier get?

A tier price is book less that tier’s discount. Every margin check is judged at each tier’s price, and the dollars are weighted by how much each tier buys.

Judge margins at

Discount and share of units, by tier

TierDiscount off bookShare of units
A key accounts % %
B regular accounts % %
C book price % %

Shares are weights: they’re scaled to add up to 100%.

Example Tier A at 12% off: a $20.00 book item sells to them for $17.60, and its margin is judged there.

PTAI default — change it to your policy When the files name them: A 12% off · B 6% off · C book Why this default?

Meridian’s (fictional) tiers: A key accounts 12% off and 40% of units, B regular 6% and 35%, C pays book on 25%.

Recommended: Tiers when your files name them; with invoices, each customer’s real level is read from them too.

Benchmark: Your policy: no public benchmark for distributor tier discounts (research 10/4/2026).

On this data At the PTAI default
Who pays what PTAI default

What margin should each product class earn?

An item earning less than its class’s target at any tier price is flagged “under target”, and sized by the gap back to the target. Items a cost-plus or matrix line prices thin on purpose are judged by that line’s rule instead.

Set targets

Target by class and tier

Shift all
Class · target %ABC · book
Taps %%%
Drills %%%
End Mills %%%
Band Saw Blades %%%
Gauge Pins %%%
Coolant %%%
Vises %%%
Inspection %%%
Tooling Cabinets %%%
%

Lower: unlisted classes are judged more gently.Higher: unlisted classes are judged harder.

Example Taps at Tier A: a 17% target, so a $10.00-cost item must sell to Tier A for at least $12.05.

PTAI default — change it to your policy By class and tier: 14%–28% across 9 classes · others 20% Why this default?

Meridian’s grid, 14–28%: lower on big-ticket cabinets and drums, lower for key accounts who get the deeper discount.

Recommended: Your own norm until you set targets: a measured norm is defensible; an invented target is not. Gaps to targets you haven’t confirmed are shown beside the headline, not in it.

Benchmark: No source gives class targets. Public distributor gross margins run from 27.5% (Watsco) to 44.6% (Fastenal, Q2 2026).

On this data At the PTAI default
Contracts and SPAs PTAI default

What is the least margin a contract or SPA price may earn?

A contract price under this margin is flagged, measured against the cost that applies: the SPA cost when the supplier supports the deal, otherwise your cost. Anything below cost is always a leak; the gap from cost up to the floor is your policy.

%

Lower: fewer contracts flagged.Higher: more contracts flagged, and bigger gaps on each.

Example At 12%, a $10.00 SPA cost must sell for at least $11.36.

PTAI default — change it to your policy 12% Why this default?

12% covers freight, handling and the cost of carrying a deal the supplier already supports. The part below cost is always a leak; the part between cost and this floor is your policy.

Recommended: 12%, with anything below cost flagged whatever floor you pick. The fix starts with the supplier (re-support the SPA), then notice: never a raise at the next order.

Benchmark: None found for a contract floor. Context: contracts and SPAs are a 100–200 bp lever (SPARXiQ, writing for NAW, Dec 2024).

On this data At the PTAI default
Supplier costs and increases PTAI default

How fast must a supplier increase reach your prices?

A cost raised more than this many days ago, on an item whose price was set before the raise, was never passed through. A price your system already computes from the new cost (on its line’s rule) is not flagged, and tiny increases are ignored.

days

Shorter: more items flagged.Longer: only increases left for months are flagged.

%
%

Example At 14 days: a cost raised 1 Jun 2026 on an item last priced 2 May 2026 is flagged; one raised 13 days ago is still inside the grace.

PTAI default — change it to your policy 14 days · ignore under 0.5% · no previous cost: 2% under the class median Why this default?

Two weeks: manual cost updates take 7–14 days to load (MDM, Apr 2026, vendor-authored). 0.5%: smaller moves are rounding or freight noise. Two points: average-cost systems move the cost date on every receipt, so a date alone proves nothing.

Recommended: Two weeks (on the supplier’s effective date when the increase was announced). Keep each item’s margin %: passing only the dollars loses ground with every increase.

Benchmark: Manual cost updates take 7–14 days (MDM, Apr 2026, vendor-authored); 20–30% of increases are delayed or missed (ProfitOptics, vendor). No source gives a target.

On the sample: Meridian’s price file carries a previous-cost column, so the “no previous cost” margin rule never applies to the sample; it guards files from average-cost ERPs.

On this data At the PTAI default
Reading each supplier line’s rule PTAI default

How far off its supplier line’s rule can a price drift before we flag it?

We read each supplier line’s pricing rule from your own file (a multiplier off list, cost-plus by class, or a cost matrix). A book price further from that rule than this is flagged. Under the rule leaks; over the rule is a lost-sale risk, never lowered by default.

%

Tighter: more prices flagged, including supplier increases still waiting to be passed through.Looser: only the big misses are flagged.

Example At 10%: if a line’s rule puts an end mill at $50.00, anything under $45.00 or over $55.00 is flagged.

PTAI default — change it to your policy ± 10% Why this default?

10%: wide enough that an ordinary supplier increase isn’t mistaken for a hand-keyed price (it has its own check), tight enough to catch real errors.

Recommended: 10%: only clear outliers. Confirm each line’s rule in the report (“Is this your rule?”) and its findings are judged against a rule you signed.

Benchmark: Your policy: no public benchmark. Electrical distributors reported +4.6% price increases year on year in Q2 2026 (tED), which a 10% band leaves alone.

On this data At the PTAI default
More rules 37 more decisions, by topic

Who pays what

Who pays what PTAI default

How much must a customer buy to keep its tier?

Reps move customers into better tiers until nearly everyone gets the best price. A customer (not on a contract) buying well under its tier’s threshold is flagged, and sized at just one tier lower, never at the tier its spend would really earn.

dollars
dollars
%

Lower: only customers far below their tier.Higher: anyone under their threshold.

Example At $25,000 for Tier A and 75%: a Tier A account buying $11,250 a year is flagged; one buying $19,688 is not.

PTAI default — change it to your policy A $25,000 · B $3,500 a year · flag under 75% Why this default?

$25,000: Meridian’s policy. Your policy: no public benchmark. 75%: room for a slow year without re-tiering anyone over a dip.

Recommended: Re-tier at the annual review, with notice: never a surprise on the next invoice.

Benchmark: Your policy: no public benchmark.

On this data At the PTAI default

Contracts and SPAs

Contracts and SPAs PTAI default

When an expired contract is still in use, do we count the supplier support you lost?

After a contract ends, orders still priced from it leak twice: the customer keeps a discount nobody renewed, and an expired SPA no longer lowers your cost.

Lost SPA support

Example Not counted: 40 units sold after the end at $9.00 instead of $10.00 leak $40. The lapsed SPA support is left out.

PTAI default — change it to your policy Left out (conservative) Why this default?

Off: the estimate stays conservative, since some suppliers honour a lapsed SPA for a while.

Recommended: Leave it out of the headline; the fix is a 60-day renew-or-end window with a reminder (our default: a key account is never cut off on the end date without notice), asking the supplier to extend the SPA first.

Benchmark: Your policy: no public benchmark.

On this data At the PTAI default
Contracts and SPAs PTAI default

How long do your suppliers give you to file an SPA claim?

Ship-and-debit claims lag the sale. Recent sales are claims in flight and never flagged. Unclaimed units inside the supplier’s window are money you can collect now; older ones are shown as likely lost (ask for a one-time catch-up), not counted as collectable.

days
days after the sale

Shorter: less is collectable, more is likely lost.Longer: more of the gap is money you can still collect.

units or fewer

Example In flight 45 days, window 90: of 365 unclaimed units spread over the year, 45 days’ worth can still be claimed and 275 days’ worth are likely lost.

PTAI default — change it to your policy 45 days in flight · window 90 days · ignore 1 unit Why this default?

45 days: a month of sales plus a claim due early the next month. 90 days. Your policy: no industry norm exists; one SEC-filed distribution contract auto-rejects claims after 30 days.

Recommended: File everything inside the window today; ask each supplier for a one-time catch-up on the rest, with your sales records attached.

Benchmark: No industry norm. One SEC-filed distribution contract (ScanSource–Cisco, 2023): claims due by the 10th business day of the next month, auto-rejected after 30 days.

On this data At the PTAI default
Contracts and SPAs PTAI default

A contract line names a whole product class or supplier line, not an item. What do we do with it?

Most real contract exports are group-level (“15% off all taps”, “Kestova at list × 0.70”). Applied, each item in the group gets that customer’s contract price, so its sales count as contract sales and are checked against the floor.

Group-level contract lines

Example Applied: “15% off Taps” gives every tap a $17.00 contract price for that customer on a $20.00 book item, checked against the floor.

PTAI default — change it to your policy Applied across the group Why this default?

Applied: a class-wide deal is that customer’s authorized price for the class, so its items are checked against it and its sales aren’t mistaken for overrides.

Recommended: Apply them: a group deal is exactly that customer’s authorized price for the group.

Benchmark: Your policy: no public benchmark.

On the sample: Meridian’s two class-wide deals clear the floor and their customers’ sales of those items carry no other finding, so listing them moves no dollar on the sample; the join report shows the difference. On a real P21 or SX.e export, where most lines are group-level, it moves a great deal.

On this data At the PTAI default
Contracts and SPAs PTAI default

How close must an invoice price be to a contract to count as billed at it?

With dated invoices, a sale after a contract ended, or to a ship-to the contract doesn’t cover, counts as billed at the contract when its price is this close to the contract price.

%

Example Within 1%: a $10.00 contract matches invoice lines up to $10.10.

PTAI default — change it to your policy 1% Why this default?

1% allows for rounding without mistaking a normal discount for the contract.

Benchmark: Your policy: no public benchmark.

On the sample: Meridian’s contracts file carries its own “Qty Billed After End” column and its scope sales are billed at exactly the contract price, so on the sample this rule has nothing to match. It matters on files that only have dated invoices.

On this data At the PTAI default
Contracts and SPAs PTAI default

How much of its volume commitment must a contract customer buy?

A contract price is often granted for a promised volume. A customer buying well under it (pro-rated for the time the contract has run) keeps a price it hasn’t earned; the shortfall share of the discount is sized.

%

Lower: only big misses are flagged.Higher: any shortfall is flagged.

Example At 80%: committed 1,000 a year, bought 700 → flagged; bought 850 → fine.

PTAI default — change it to your policy 80% Why this default?

80%. Your policy: no public benchmark.

Recommended: Move to the price they actually earned at renewal, with notice.

Benchmark: Your policy: no public benchmark.

On this data At the PTAI default

Reading each supplier line’s rule

Reading each supplier line’s rule PTAI default

How close to its line’s rule must an item be to count as fitting it?

When we read a line’s rule, an item inside this band “fits”. The share that fits is the line’s fit score. An item under the rule is sized only to the edge of this band: we count just the gap beyond what the line itself tolerates.

%

Tighter: lines with rounded prices may stop fitting, and stop being judged.Wider: messier lines get judged too.

Example At ± 3%: a $50.00 rule price fits anything from $48.50 to $51.50.

PTAI default — change it to your policy ± 3% Why this default?

±3% covers price rounding (to the nickel, to .99) without blurring two different multipliers.

Benchmark: Your policy: no public benchmark.

On this data At the PTAI default
Reading each supplier line’s rule PTAI default

How consistent must a supplier line be before we judge it?

A line’s rule is trusted only when at least this share of its items fit it. Below that, the line is listed as “no consistent rule” and none of its items are flagged off-rule.

%

Lower: messier lines are judged (more flags, some may be wrong).Higher: only very clean lines are judged.

Example At 75%: a 200-item line needs 150 items on its rule.

PTAI default — change it to your policy 75% Why this default?

75%: below that the line has no consistent rule, and guessing one would flag good prices.

Benchmark: Your policy: no public benchmark.

On this data At the PTAI default
Reading each supplier line’s rule PTAI default

How many items does it take to read a rule?

A rule read from too few items is a guess. A class or cost step with fewer items than this can’t set its own multiplier, and a smaller supplier line isn’t read at all.

items
items

Example A class with 4 items on one line can’t set its own multiplier; a line with 9 items isn’t judged.

PTAI default — change it to your policy 5 per class or step · 10 per line Why this default?

Five: fewer and one odd price moves the median. Ten: a smaller line can’t show a rule worth judging others against.

Benchmark: Your policy: no public benchmark.

On the sample: Every class on Meridian’s showcase lines carries far more than 50 items, so the per-class minimum moves nothing there; on a smaller file it decides which classes are read. The per-line minimum does move the sample.

On this data At the PTAI default
Reading each supplier line’s rule PTAI default

Where can a cost matrix change its multiplier?

Some lines are priced by cost bracket (× 1.60 under $25, × 1.50 up to $100 …). These are the costs where we look for a bracket to start.

Breakpoints

Example Breaks tried: $5, $10, $25, $50, $100, $250, $500, $1,000, $2,500, $5,000.

PTAI default — change it to your policy $5, $10, $25, $50, $100, $250, $500, $1,000, $2,500, $5,000 Why this default?

Round dollars ($5, $10, $25 … $5,000): where real matrices break.

Benchmark: Your policy: no public benchmark.

On this data At the PTAI default
Reading each supplier line’s rule PTAI default

How close to “one pack off” must a price be to call it a box-vs-each error?

A price that is off its rule by almost exactly the pack quantity is a unit-of-measure setup error, not a pricing choice.

%

Example At ± 12%: a box of 10 whose rule says $90.00, priced between $7.92 and $10.08, is a box priced as one piece.

PTAI default — change it to your policy ± 12% Why this default?

±12% allows for the line’s own rounding and pack discounts.

Benchmark: Your policy: no public benchmark.

On the sample: Meridian’s box-vs-each errors are exact pack multiples, so any band from 0.2% to 30% catches the same items. Real files with rounded box prices need the band.

On this data At the PTAI default
Reading each supplier line’s rule PTAI default

What’s the smallest off-rule gap worth a look?

An item off its rule by less than this in dollars is ignored, however big the percentage.

dollars

Example At $0.50: a $3.00 rule price keyed at $2.60 is 13% off but only $0.40, so it isn’t flagged.

PTAI default — change it to your policy $0.50 Why this default?

50 cents: a 13% miss on a $3 item isn’t worth a pricing review.

Benchmark: Your policy: no public benchmark.

On this data At the PTAI default
Reading each supplier line’s rule PTAI default

Which classes or items do you price to market on purpose?

Some items sit under their line’s rule on purpose: known-value basket items (gloves, shop towels, cut-off wheels) priced to win the order. Name them here, as class words or item numbers, and they are left out of the rule reading and never called off-rule or under target. A sale under cost is still shown: priced to market is a choice, a loss is a fact.

Example None named: every item is judged against its line’s rule. Name “gloves” and a glove class priced at cost × 1.12 on purpose is no longer flagged.

PTAI default — change it to your policy None named Why this default?

None by default: nothing is assumed deliberate. Broadline distributors often price gloves, shop towels and cut-off wheels to the market to win the order.

Recommended: Name only what you would defend as a deliberate basket price, and review the list at each line review. In the report, “Priced to market” on a supplier line does the same for a whole line.

Benchmark: Your policy: no public benchmark.

On this data At the PTAI default

Supplier costs and increases

Supplier costs and increases PTAI default

After an increase, how close must each customer’s invoice price land?

The book price can move while the invoices don’t: the desk re-quotes the last price paid. For every customer who bought before and after a supplier increase, the new invoice price should be up by the cost increase. Landing more than this short is flagged, led by how many days the increase took to reach the price file.

%

Tighter: any slippage is flagged.Looser: only clear reversions to the old price.

Example At 1%: cost up 6%, a customer paying $10.00 before should pay about $10.60 after; $10.44 is flagged, $10.60 is not.

PTAI default — change it to your policy 1% plus nickel rounding Why this default?

One point, plus the nickel a new price rounds to: tight enough to catch a reverted price, loose enough to ignore rounding.

Recommended: Reprice the stuck customers and require a reason code to go under the new price.

Benchmark: 55% of distributors raised prices because of tariffs (Industrial Distribution survey, Jun 2026); nearly 60% say price changes take weeks or months to implement (Enable / Censuswide, vendor survey, 2025).

On this data At the PTAI default
Supplier costs and increases PTAI default

How far can your cost differ from the supplier’s file before it’s flagged?

Every margin report and cost-plus price on the item is built on the cost on file. If it isn’t what the supplier now charges, it’s stale. A file dated after the as-of date isn’t in effect yet and is never compared.

%

Example At 0.5%: a $10.00 supplier cost flags anything on file under $9.95 or over $10.05.

PTAI default — change it to your policy 0.5% Why this default?

0.5% covers rounding in either file.

Recommended: Load increases and reprice the same day. A supplier DECREASE: load the cost, hold the price (our default: a recommendation never lowers a customer’s price; lowering is shown as an alternative).

Benchmark: Manual keying runs a 2–5% error rate (MDM, Apr 2026, vendor-authored).

On this data At the PTAI default
Supplier costs and increases PTAI default

On a line with no supplier price file, how old can a cost get?

With no file to compare against, the cost’s date is all we have. Older than this is flagged as a risk (counted, not sized). Fast-moving classes get a shorter limit.

days
days

Example As of 1 Sep 2026: a drill cost last updated 23 Feb 2026 is stale (180-day limit); a vise cost that old is not (365 days).

PTAI default — change it to your policy 180 days (carbide, tungsten, end mill, drill, tap, insert, reamer, cobalt) · 365 days for the rest Why this default?

180 days in 2026: 91% of distributors say manufacturers raised prices, and carbide carries surcharges on top. A year: most suppliers change price at least once a year.

Recommended: 180 days for carbide and the other fast classes, 365 for the rest.

Benchmark: Carbide carries 10–15% base increases plus 60–80% tungsten surcharges (Cutting Tool Engineering, Jul 2026); 91% of distributors say manufacturers raised prices (Industrial Distribution survey, 2025).

On this data At the PTAI default
Supplier costs and increases PTAI default

When should a price built on average cost count as behind?

Cost-plus prices built on average cost lag while replacement cost climbs: the cheaper stock is gone, the price still reflects it. With an average-cost column, an item priced on it whose current cost runs higher than this is flagged. Tariff surcharges and refunds are both unwound, so neither lingers in the price.

%

Example At 3%: average $10.00, replacement $10.60, price still built on the $10.00 → flagged.

PTAI default — change it to your policy 3% Why this default?

3%: in 2026 the pre-tariff stock is gone and replacement cost carries the full tariff.

Recommended: Build prices on the highest of replacement cost, last PO paid and average cost.

Benchmark: The 2025 FIFO cushion from pre-tariff stock has ended (MDM, Jun 2026); 31% of distributors add tariffs to landed cost (Distribution Strategy Group, Mar 2026).

On this data At the PTAI default

Overrides, quotes and invoices

Overrides, quotes and invoices PTAI default

How far under the lowest authorized price is an override a leak?

The lowest authorized price is that customer’s own usual level for the product class (read from invoices), the system price when your invoices carry it, or the deepest tier and lowest break. Lines keyed under it by more than this are override leakage.

%

Smaller: more overrides flagged.Bigger: only deep overrides are flagged.

Example At 2%: with a lowest authorized price of $20.00, overrides under $19.60 are flagged.

PTAI default — change it to your policy 2% Why this default?

2% allows for rounding and small courtesy adjustments.

Recommended: An approval ladder: a rep may go a few points under the customer’s level, a manager further, anything deeper needs a reason code.

Benchmark: At some distributors 40–70% of revenue is priced on the fly, about 1,000 bp below system price (SPARXiQ, writing for NAW, 2023). No benchmark for a tolerance.

On this data At the PTAI default
Overrides, quotes and invoices PTAI default

How much invoice history before we trust a customer’s usual price level?

We read what each customer normally pays for each product class (the median of price ÷ book), falling back to their overall level. A customer with fewer lines than this isn’t judged.

lines

Example At 5: a customer with 4 tap invoice lines is judged on their overall level; with fewer than 5 lines in total they aren’t judged.

PTAI default — change it to your policy 5 invoice lines Why this default?

Five: enough lines that one odd sale doesn’t set their level.

Benchmark: Your policy: no public benchmark.

On the sample: Meridian’s customers carry tiers and its invoices flag overrides, so this rule only moves the sample when tiers are set to “Book price only”.

On this data At the PTAI default
Overrides, quotes and invoices PTAI default

When does a period-end discount push become a leak?

End-of-month and quarter-end discounts “spill over”: customers learn to wait, and keep the lower price afterwards. A rep or branch whose overrides run much deeper in the last days of the month, with customers still paying that price the next month, is flagged; the price kept afterwards is sized.

days
×

Example Last 3 days, 2× deeper: a rep giving 4% mid-month and 9% at month end, with customers still on it in the next month, is flagged.

PTAI default — change it to your policy Last 3 days of the month · 2× deeper Why this default?

2×. Session default, not a ruling: no public benchmark (Industrial Distribution, Apr 2026, describes quarter-end “discount spillover”).

Recommended: Hold period-end discounts to the approval ladder; anything given at month end expires with the order.

Benchmark: Session default, not a ruling. Industrial Distribution (Apr 2026) describes quarter-end “discount spillover”; no public benchmark for a threshold.

On this data At the PTAI default
Overrides, quotes and invoices PTAI default

How long after a quote expires may the desk still honour it?

An order that arrives months after a 30-day quote, at the old quoted price, after costs rose, is a price nobody authorized any more. Lines carrying a quote number past its valid-through date (plus this grace), priced under the customer’s normal price, are flagged.

days after expiry

Example At 7 days: a quote valid through 30 Jun honoured on 27 Jul 2026 is flagged.

PTAI default — change it to your policy 7 days after expiry Why this default?

A week: an order already in the mail is honoured; four months later is not.

Recommended: Quotes good for 30 days, or until a supplier increase, whichever comes first; requote after that.

Benchmark: Expired quotes honoured and quotes not repriced after cost changes are reported problems (Distribution Strategy Group, Jun 2026); no source quantifies it.

On this data At the PTAI default
Overrides, quotes and invoices PTAI default

Does your price file’s units column include sales at contract prices?

When the price file carries units and the contracts file carries its own units (and there are no invoices), contract units counted in both would be sized twice: once at book and tier prices, once on the contract.

Units column includes contract sales

Example Yes / not sure: 1,000 units in the price file, 300 of them on contracts → 700 sized at book and tier prices.

PTAI default — change it to your policy Not sure (treated as yes) Why this default?

Not sure = yes: contract units are then taken out of the item checks, so no unit is sized twice.

Benchmark: Most ERP “qty sold 12 months” columns include contract sales (expert review, 10/4/2026).

On the sample: Meridian’s price file carries no units column (its units come from invoices), so on the sample this rule has nothing to subtract.

On this data At the PTAI default
Overrides, quotes and invoices PTAI default

When is an invoice price too far from book to judge at all?

A line far off book is usually a different unit of measure (a box billed as an each), not a real price. It is set aside, not counted as an override, and the report says how many lines and how much revenue were set aside.

× book

Example At 5×: a $10.00 book item invoiced under $2.00 or over $50.00 is set aside.

PTAI default — change it to your policy 5× book Why this default?

5×: a box sold as an each is usually 10× or more off; anything inside 5× is a real price.

Benchmark: Your policy: no public benchmark.

On this data At the PTAI default
Overrides, quotes and invoices PTAI default

How much history counts as “the last 12 months”?

Invoice and vending lines older than this (counted back from the as-of date) are left out of every count and dollar.

days

Example At 365 days: lines from 1 Sep 2025 to 1 Sep 2026.

PTAI default — change it to your policy 365 days Why this default?

365 days, counted back from the as-of date.

Benchmark: Your policy: no public benchmark.

On this data At the PTAI default

Freight and small orders

Freight and small orders PTAI default

What does an outbound shipment cost you, when your invoices don’t say?

Freight absorbed against your own terms (prepaid-and-add orders shipped free, orders under a free-freight threshold) is measured from each invoice’s freight cost. Without that column, this average per shipment sizes it, shown beside the headline until you set it.

dollars

Example At $0 (not entered): those orders are counted, not sized. Your invoices’ freight-cost column always wins.

PTAI default — change it to your policy Not entered (read from invoices only) Why this default?

$0 until you enter it: we never invent your freight cost.

Recommended: Enforce your own freight terms on every order; a branch manager approves waivers with a reason code.

Benchmark: Typically about 70% of freight cost is recovered; 60–150 bp of revenue is absorbed (SPARXiQ, writing for NAW, 2021). Diesel hit $6.285 a gallon on 14 Sep 2026, up 68% in a year (Distribution Strategy Group).

On the sample: Meridian’s invoices carry a freight-cost column, so the average is never needed on the sample. It sizes files that don’t.

On this data At the PTAI default
Freight and small orders PTAI default

What is a small order, and what does it cost the customer?

Small orders cost more to pick, pack and invoice than they earn. An order under this value with no small-order charge (contract and vending accounts exempt) is flagged and sized at your charge, read from your own invoices unless you enter it.

dollars
dollars

Example Under $50.00: a $30.00 order with no charge is flagged and sized at the charge you usually bill.

PTAI default — change it to your policy Under $50.00 · charge read from your invoices Why this default?

$50: Meridian’s policy. Your policy: no public benchmark. Read from your file: measured, never assumed.

Recommended: Bill the charge you already have; move habitual small buyers to web or counter ordering.

Benchmark: 40% of invoice lines lose money once cost-to-serve is counted (SPARXiQ, writing for NAW). The threshold and fee are your policy: no public benchmark.

On this data At the PTAI default

Supplier rebate programs

Supplier rebate programs PTAI default

When is a supplier rebate late, and when is a tier within reach?

Volume rebates are earned on purchases and paid after the period closes. Earned but not received this long after period end is money owed to you. A program whose projected purchases sit just under its next tier is shown as an opportunity (never counted as a leak).

days
%
%

Example 60 days: a program that closed 30 Jun and paid nothing by 30 Aug 2026 is owed. Within 10%: projected $460,000 against a $500,000 tier is within reach.

PTAI default — change it to your policy owed 60 days after period end · next tier within 10% · carry 8% a year Why this default?

60 days: most programs pay within a quarter of period end. Your policy: no public benchmark. 10%: close enough to plan a buy, never counted as a leak. 8% a year: a common working-capital rate. Set your own: buying ahead only pays when the tier is worth more than the cash it ties up.

Recommended: A monthly rebate calendar (deadlines, tier distance, aged accruals) owned by the controller. Buy ahead to a tier only when its net upside, after carrying the stock, beats the cash.

Benchmark: Rebates are underclaimed by about 30% (SPARXiQ, writing for NAW, 2023); 60% of distributors and manufacturers don’t trust their rebate data (Enable, vendor survey, 2025).

On the sample: The carrying cost changes only the net upside written on a tier within reach (never counted in the leak), so it moves no dollar; a small case proves the engine reads it.

On this data At the PTAI default

Vending

Vending PTAI default

How long can a stocked vending bin sit still before it’s flagged?

A bin holding your stock with no dispense for this long ties up inventory in the customer’s crib and takes a slot a moving item could use. Bins idle past the watch level are counted for the route driver first.

days

Shorter: more bins flagged.Longer: only truly dead bins are flagged.

days

Example At 180 days: as of 1 Sep 2026, a bin last dispensed 4 Mar 2026 is flagged; one idle 90 days goes on the watch list.

PTAI default — change it to your policy 180 days · watch at 90 Why this default?

Six months: two slow quarters in a row. 90 days: one slow quarter.

Benchmark: No independent study quantifies idle-machine losses (research 10/4/2026). Your policy.

On the sample: The watch level is counted in the report, not flagged, so it moves no finding; the idle limit does.

On this data At the PTAI default
Vending PTAI default

How does your vending program bill, and how big a gap is just this cycle?

Machines dispense today and bill later. How you bill sets how much dispensed-not-billed is timing: a refill-billed bin can be a whole refill behind, a monthly invoice a month behind.

We bill vending
%
units

Example On every dispense, 2% or 2 units: 300 dispensed and 294 billed is fine; 290 billed is flagged, and the 4 beyond the allowance are sized.

PTAI default — change it to your policy Per dispense · 2% of dispensed, at least 2 units Why this default?

On every dispense: the strictest. Choose yours. 2% is roughly a week of a bin’s year.

Recommended: Fix the billing feed now; back-bill the last 60 days with the machine log attached; older gaps are a conversation with the buyer, not an invoice.

Benchmark: No independent benchmark for dispensed-not-billed (research 10/4/2026). Your policy.

On this data At the PTAI default
Vending PTAI default

What should a machine charge, and how far can it drift?

Machine prices are set once and forgotten while the price file moves. A machine billing further than this from the customer’s contract or tier price (plus any vending fee in the agreement) is flagged.

%
%
dollars

Example A $25.00 contract item: billed below $24.75 is flagged.

PTAI default — change it to your policy 1%, at least $0.02 Why this default?

1% covers rounding in the vending software. 0%: machines bill exactly the customer’s price unless the agreement says otherwise.

Recommended: Raise under-billing machines now; over-billing machines wait for a customer review (our default: a recommendation never lowers a customer’s price; lowering is shown as an alternative).

Benchmark: Your policy: no public benchmark.

On this data At the PTAI default

Item data

Item data PTAI default

Same part under two suppliers: how big a price gap is worth flagging?

One manufacturer part should have one sell price, whichever supplier you buy it from. Customers and your own desk find the cheaper one. It counts in the leak only when the cheaper price is below the other supplier’s cost.

%

Example At 3%: $20.00 under one supplier and $19.50 under another is fine; $19.00 is flagged.

PTAI default — change it to your policy 3% Why this default?

3%: closer than that is rounding between two lines’ rules.

Recommended: Price both from the source you normally buy from.

Benchmark: Your policy: no public benchmark.

On this data At the PTAI default
Item data PTAI default

Which manufacturer names are the same maker?

The same part is often set up twice, under two spellings of its maker. Common suffixes (Inc, USA, Mfg) are already ignored, and spellings your file proves are one maker (the same UPC under both) are learned automatically. Add any others here, written “a = b”, and the same-part check matches them.

Example None added: “Osterline USA Inc.” already matches “Osterline”. Add “OSL = Osterline” to match an abbreviation too.

PTAI default — change it to your policy None added (suffixes ignored, UPC-proven aliases learned) Why this default?

None by default: corporate suffixes (Inc, USA, Mfg) are already ignored, and spellings the file proves are one maker (the same UPC under both) are learned.

Recommended: Add the abbreviations your buyers use; the report lists every alias it used and why.

Benchmark: Your policy: no public benchmark.

On the sample: Meridian’s duplicate parts carry the same maker spelling, and Brindlemoor’s “KESTOVA CARBIDE INC” already matches “Kestova Carbide”, so an alias moves nothing on the samples; a small case proves the engine reads it.

On this data At the PTAI default
Item data PTAI default

Which status words mean an item is obsolete?

An item with one of these statuses should carry no live price; the margin checks skip it and the obsolete check flags it if it’s still priced.

Example A status of “obsolete” (any capitals) counts; so does any longer status containing a word of six letters or more, like “obsolete - do not reorder”.

PTAI default — change it to your policy obsolete, discontinued, discontinue, disc, inactive, dead, retired, obs, o, d, x Why this default?

The words P21, Eclipse, SX.e and NetSuite exports commonly use.

Benchmark: Your policy: no public benchmark.

On this data At the PTAI default
Item data PTAI default

How many equal quantity breaks make a “flat” ladder?

A ladder whose breaks are all the same price gives no reason to buy more, and is usually a copy of the book price.

breaks

Example At 3: $5.00 / $5.00 / $5.00 is flat; $5.00 / $5.00 isn’t judged.

PTAI default — change it to your policy 3 breaks Why this default?

Three: two equal breaks can be deliberate.

Benchmark: Your policy: no public benchmark.

On the sample: Every quantity ladder in Meridian’s clean sample steps down (it passes the flat-ladder check), so the count moves nothing there; a small case proves the engine reads it.

On this data At the PTAI default

Date, checks and what you’ve confirmed

Date, checks and what you’ve confirmed PTAI default

What date do we judge the files as of?

Contract expiry, stale costs, idle vending bins, supplier increases and the 12-month window all count back from this date.

Blank = the files’ own date (2026-09-01).

Example Judged as of 1 Sep 2026 (the date Meridian’s files run to).

PTAI default — change it to your policy The files’ own date (1 Sep 2026) Why this default?

The sample’s own date (1 Sep 2026); for your files, today.

On this data At the PTAI default
Date, checks and what you’ve confirmed PTAI default

Which checks run?

Switch off a check you don’t want judged. Its findings and dollars drop out of every total, and the report shows it as turned off by you.

Checks

Example All checks on: switch one off and its findings and dollars leave every total.

PTAI default — change it to your policy All on Why this default?

All on: each is a leak distributors really have. Switch one off only when it can’t apply to you (no vending program, say).

On this data At the PTAI default
Date, checks and what you’ve confirmed PTAI default

Which of our defaults are really your policy?

On your own files, dollars measured only against one of our default policies are shown beside the headline (“+ $X if you adopt these”), not in it. Tick a policy here, or change it, and it becomes yours: its dollars join the headline.

Confirmed as our policy

Example None confirmed yet: on your files, default-only dollars stay out of the headline.

PTAI default — change it to your policy None confirmed Why this default?

Nothing assumed: a number built on our guess at your policy is not your leak until you say so.

On the sample: Every policy in the sample is Meridian’s own, so confirming changes nothing there. It moves the headline on your files.

On this data At the PTAI default

Your rulebook

These choices are the first page of a real engagement.

In a Data Decision Sprint, each of these rules is confirmed by the person with the authority to set it, signed, and turned into a check that runs on every future price change. Download yours: one page, built in this tab, with every rule you changed marked.

See how a ruling becomes a check →

What the X-Ray measures

35 distributor checks. Every one explained.

Built for the way a distributor really prices: many supplier lines, each with its own rule, plus customer tiers, contracts and SPAs, supplier claims and rebates, freight terms, invoices and vending. Each check is a rule you would sign off on, written in plain English, with the dollar formula shown and the person who fixes it named. The same discipline runs in production at a manufacturer: 20 automated pricing-rule checks run on every change.

“A branch manager can’t fix a trend line, but they can fix an order.”

Brandon Lassiter, ProfitOptics, writing in Industrial Distribution, Aug 2026. That is why every dollar the X-Ray finds opens to the record behind it.

Eight exports, all 35 checks

  1. 01 · required

    Price file

    Your item or price export: items, suppliers, costs, book prices, dates and quantity breaks. On its own it runs up to 16 checks.

    Joins on item number, or manufacturer part #

  2. 02 · optional

    Contracts & SPAs

    Usually called contract pricing, special pricing (SPA), customer-specific pricing or job pricing. P21 price pages, Eclipse, Infor CSD/SX.e (pdsc), NetSuite and Epicor can all export it to CSV or Excel. Group lines (a whole product class or supplier line at a discount, multiplier or markup) are applied item by item. A rebate-claim export works too.

    Unlocks Contract or SPA price under its floor · Expired contract still in use · Unclaimed supplier rebate (SPA claim) · Contract with no end date · Contract price used outside its ship-tos · Volume commitment missed

  3. 03 · optional

    Vending log

    The transaction or usage log from your vending software, or the vending / consignment report in your ERP: one row per dispense (or per bin) with the item, quantity, date, what was billed and the bin’s on-hand quantity.

    Unlocks Vending price drift · Vending dispensed but not billed · Vending bin not moving (180+ days)

  4. 04 · optional

    Invoices / sales history

    Line-level sales or invoice history: invoice number, date, customer, item, quantity and the net price actually charged; freight and small-order charge lines too. Optional columns unlock more: ship-to, rep and branch, the system (matrix) price, quote number and quote valid-through date, freight cost. Usually a sales-history, invoice-line or “sales by item by customer” report in P21, Eclipse, Infor CSD/SX.e, NetSuite or Epicor. Twelve months is ideal.

    Unlocks Override leakage · Price increase didn’t land on invoices · Invoice lines sold below cost · Small orders, no minimum charge · Expired quote still honoured · Period-end discount spillover

  5. 05 · optional

    Customer master

    The customer list with its pricing and shipping terms: price class or tier, rep, branch, freight terms (prepaid, prepaid and add, collect, free over $X). P21 customer maintenance, SX.e arsc, Eclipse customer file, NetSuite customer list.

    Unlocks Freight terms not applied · Customer in a better tier than its spend

  6. 06 · optional

    Supplier programs

    Your volume-rebate programs, one row per supplier program and period: tier thresholds and rates, purchases so far, and what was earned, claimed and received. SX.e rebate setup (pdsr), a buying-group statement, or the controller’s rebate spreadsheet all work.

    Unlocks Supplier rebate earned, not received · Rebate tier within reach

  7. 07 · optional

    Supplier price file

    The file a supplier sends with an increase (or posts on its portal): its part numbers, list price, your net cost and the date it takes effect. Matched to your items on the supplier’s or manufacturer’s part number, or the UPC. A new list your book never followed, and a cost your system never loaded, are both caught with no dates needed.

    Sharpens Stale cost vs the supplier’s file · Supplier increase not passed through

  8. 08 · optional

    SPA claims

    Your claim history, one row per claimed invoice line: the supplier’s authorization (SPA) number, invoice and line, quantity, debit per unit, status and the credit memo that paid it. SX.e pder / pderc, a P21 rebate-claim report, or the supplier portal’s claim export. With your invoices it finds the exact lines never claimed (support at the book cost on each ship date), instead of an estimate.

    Sharpens Unclaimed supplier rebate (SPA claim)

Supplier lines and cost

  1. 01 · high

    Supplier increase not passed through

    The supplier raised its price and the new cost is loaded, but the sell price was set before the increase and never moved. Every order since quietly absorbs it. A price your system already computes from the new cost (it sits on its line’s rule) is not flagged. With the supplier’s own price file added, a new list the book never followed is caught too, with no dates needed.

    Nominal Sell price reviewed within 14 days of the last supplier cost change

  2. 02 · high

    Stale cost vs the supplier’s file

    The cost in your system is not what the supplier’s current price file says, so every margin report and every cost-plus price on this item is built on the wrong number. Lines with no supplier file are checked against their own BUY rule (cost ÷ the supplier’s list, read per discount group: “you buy at list × 0.42”) and by date: a cost untouched for over 180 days in fast-moving classes, 365 in the rest.

    Nominal Cost on file = supplier’s current file cost (or updated within 180 / 365 days)

  3. 03 · high

    Off the line’s own pricing rule

    Each supplier line is priced by a rule, and we read that rule from your own file: a multiplier off the supplier’s list, cost-plus by class, or a cost matrix. This item’s book price sits more than 10% away from what its own line’s rule says. Off-rule finds single items: a whole line behind its supplier is caught by the increase checks, the supplier’s own price file, or the line’s buy rule (cost ÷ supplier list).

    Nominal Book price within 10% of its supplier line’s inferred rule (lines with no consistent rule are not judged)

  4. 22 · high

    Price increase didn’t land on invoices

    The supplier raised cost and your book price followed, but the invoices didn’t: customers who bought before the increase are still billed the old price, usually the desk re-quoting the last price paid. Led by how many days the increase took to reach your price file.

    Nominal Each customer’s price after an increase within 1% of their normal price on the new book

  5. 24 · medium

    Priced on a lagging average cost

    The price was built on average cost (it sits on its line’s rule at the average cost), but today’s replacement cost runs higher: the cheaper stock is gone and the price still reflects it. In 2026 the pre-tariff stock is gone and replacement cost carries the full tariff.

    Nominal Prices built on the higher of replacement and average cost (flag when replacement runs over average by 3%)

  6. 25 · medium

    Tariff surcharge or refund not unwound

    A tariff surcharge you bill customers is still running after the supplier dropped its own, or a tariff refund you received is still inside the cost your prices are built on. Either way the price no longer tells the truth: a refund-and-credibility risk with customers, and a margin report that is wrong.

    Nominal Surcharges end when the supplier’s does; refunds come out of the cost

Margin, invoices and customers

  1. 04 · high

    Sells below cost to a customer tier

    At book price, or at a customer tier’s discount off book, the item sells for less than it costs you. Usually a supplier’s thin discount on one item that the line’s multiplier never accounted for. An item that is only under cost before a supplier rebate is shown as rebate-dependent, at $0.

    Nominal Every tier price ≥ cost

  2. 05 · medium

    Under the class target margin for a tier

    The item is profitable, but at one or more customer tiers it earns less than the target margin for its product class (or, on your own file, less than your own norm for the class).

    Nominal Margin at every tier price ≥ that class’s target for the tier

  3. 11 · high

    Override leakage

    Order lines were keyed at a manual override price below what that customer is authorized to pay: under their own usual level for the product class (or the system price), and under the lowest quantity break.

    Nominal Override price ≥ the lowest authorized price (allowing 2%)

  4. 23 · high

    Invoice lines sold below cost

    Actual invoice lines at a price under the item’s cost, with no contract, no override and no tier to explain it: a customer-by-class price level nobody re-checked after costs went up. No model involved: the invoices say so.

    Nominal Every invoiced price ≥ cost (rebate-dependent lines excepted)

  5. 33 · medium

    Customer in a better tier than its spend

    A customer (not on a contract) carries a tier whose spend threshold it is far from meeting: under 75% of it in the last 12 months. Reps move customers up; nobody moves them back.

    Nominal Spend ≥ 75% of the tier’s threshold (A $25,000, B $3,500 a year)

  6. 34 · medium

    Expired quote still honoured

    Orders billed at a quoted price more than 7 days after the quote expired, under what the customer normally pays: a price nobody authorized any more, usually after costs rose.

    Nominal Quoted prices honoured until the valid-through date + 7 days

  7. 35 · medium

    Period-end discount spillover

    A rep (or branch) gives much deeper overrides in the last 3 days of the month, and the customers keep that price on their next orders: the month-end push becomes the price.

    Nominal Period-end overrides no more than 2× deeper than the rest of the month, and never kept afterwards

Contracts, SPAs and claims

  1. 06 · high

    Contract or SPA price under its floor

    A customer contract or special-pricing agreement prices the item below your minimum contract margin, measured against the cost that actually applies (the SPA cost when the supplier supports the deal).

    Nominal Contract price ≥ applicable cost ÷ (1 − contract floor)

  2. 07 · high

    Expired contract still in use

    The agreement ended, but orders are still being priced from it. The customer keeps a discount nobody renewed, and an expired SPA no longer protects your cost.

    Nominal No sales at a contract price after its end date

  3. 08 · high

    Unclaimed supplier rebate (SPA claim)

    You sold at the special price the supplier agreed to support, but the ship-and-debit claim was never filed for all of it. Sales in the last 45 days are claims in flight; unclaimed units inside the supplier’s 90-day window are money you can collect now; older ones are likely lost.

    Nominal Every qualifying SPA unit claimed (allowing 45 days in flight)

  4. 30 · medium

    Contract with no end date

    The agreement has no end date (or a “never” date such as 2099). Its price has no review and won’t move when cost does.

    Nominal Every contract and SPA carries an end date

  5. 31 · high

    Contract price used outside its ship-tos

    The contract names a ship-to, but invoices to the customer’s other ship-tos were billed at the contract price too. The agreement’s scope crept, and nobody re-priced it.

    Nominal Contract prices only on the ship-tos the agreement names

  6. 32 · medium

    Volume commitment missed

    The contract price was granted for a volume commitment, and the customer is buying under 80% of it (pro-rated for the time the contract has run) while keeping the price.

    Nominal Units bought ≥ 80% of the commitment, pro-rated

Freight and small orders

  1. 26 · high

    Freight terms not applied

    The customer’s own freight terms say they pay (prepaid and add, or an order under their free-freight threshold), but the order shipped with no freight billed. Your own terms, not applied.

    Nominal Every order shipped on prepaid-and-add terms (or under the free-freight threshold) carries a freight charge

  2. 27 · medium

    Small orders, no minimum charge

    Orders under $50 cost more to pick, pack and invoice than they earn, and shipped with no small-order charge (contract and vending accounts exempt).

    Nominal Orders under $50 carry your small-order charge

Supplier rebate programs

  1. 28 · high

    Supplier rebate earned, not received

    A volume-rebate period closed more than 60 days ago, and the supplier has paid less than the program’s tiers say you earned on your purchases.

    Nominal Every closed program paid in full within 60 days

  2. 29 · low

    Rebate tier within reach

    A current rebate program is on pace to finish just under its next tier (within 10%), with time left to plan purchases.

    Nominal No program ends just short of a tier without a decision

Item setup (UOM, duplicates, blanks)

  1. 09 · high

    UOM or pack error

    The book price is off its line’s rule by almost exactly the pack quantity: a box priced as one piece, or one piece priced as the supplier’s box. Classic EA-vs-BX setup error.

    Nominal Book price ≈ the line’s rule for the item’s own unit of measure

  2. 10 · medium

    Same part under two suppliers, two prices

    The same manufacturer part number is set up under two suppliers (often direct and through a master distributor), each priced by its own line’s rule. Customers and your own desk find the cheaper one.

    Nominal One manufacturer part = one sell price, whichever supplier you buy it from

  3. 12 · medium

    Missing cost, class or supplier

    An active item has no cost, no product class or no supplier. Its margin cannot be measured and no line rule can protect it, so it is invisible to every other check.

    Nominal Every active item has a cost, a class and a supplier

Price-file basics

  1. 13 · medium

    Duplicate SKU

    The same item number appears more than once. Order entry, EDI and the web store may each pick a different row.

    Nominal Each SKU appears once

  2. 14 · medium

    Zero or missing price

    An active item has no book price, or $0.00. If that means “quote at order,” flag it so; otherwise it can ship free through EDI or the web store.

    Nominal Price > 0, or the item is flagged quote-only

  3. 15 · low

    Obsolete item still priced

    The item is marked obsolete or discontinued but still carries a live price, so it can still be ordered at a price nobody maintains.

    Nominal Obsolete → no live price

  4. 16 · medium

    Quantity break inverted

    A higher quantity tier costs MORE per unit than a lower one, so buying more costs the customer more. It erodes trust and usually hides a keying error.

    Nominal Tier n+1 ≤ tier n

  5. 17 · low

    Quantity breaks flat

    All quantity tiers carry the same price: no reason to buy more, and usually a copy of the book price.

    Nominal At least one step down across the tiers

Optional: size ladder

  1. 18 · medium

    Bigger size priced under a smaller one

    Optional module, run only inside a supplier series that carries size columns: a bigger (or longer) item sells for less per piece than a smaller one in the same series — often a supplier list error your multiplier passed straight through.

    Nominal Inside one supplier series, per-piece price never falls as size grows

Vending program

  1. 19 · high

    Vending price drift

    Items dispensed from a customer’s vending machine are billed at a price that differs from that customer’s own contract or tier price (plus any vending fee in the agreement). Machine prices are set once and forgotten while the price file moves.

    Nominal Machine price = the customer’s contract or normal price (within 1%)

  2. 20 · high

    Vending dispensed but not billed

    The machine log shows more units dispensed than were ever invoiced: your stock left the machine and was never billed. Check items with no ERP cross-reference first; an unmapped customer part number is the usual cause.

    Nominal Invoiced units = dispensed units (allowing the current billing cycle: 2 units or 2%)

  3. 21 · low

    Vending bin not moving (180+ days)

    A bin still holds stock but nothing has been dispensed for 180 days or more. It ties up your inventory in the customer’s crib and takes a slot a moving item could use.

    Nominal Every stocked bin dispensed within 180 days

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A promise that “nothing is uploaded” is worth what it costs to type. So this page is built to prove it.

  1. The browser seals the page. A Content-Security-Policy of connect-src 'none' tells your browser to refuse every outbound connection this page attempts. Press “Test the seal” to see it refuse.
  2. The engine lives inside the page. The checks run in a Web Worker built from the page itself, so it inherits the same seal and needs no download to start. That is why it keeps working with Wi-Fi off.
  3. A live meter. Your browser’s own resource timing counts every request after you start. Anything that could carry data would turn it red.
  4. Nothing else is watching. No analytics, no session replay, no chat widget on this page. Close the tab and your files are gone; the only thing kept, for the next page in this tab, is the table of counts you see in the report.
  5. Every file, same seal. Your contracts, vending log and invoices are joined to your price file inside this tab, by the same sealed engine. The sample files download from this page too: they are built in your browser, not fetched.
  6. Excel files. Reading .xlsx needs the SheetJS library, loaded once before your file is opened. CSV needs nothing at all.

What a browser can’t see

Your price file, contracts, invoices, vending log, customer master and supplier programs cover all 35 checks. What a few exports still can’t show: carrier bills and fuel surcharges, landed cost (freight-in and duty), the rebates you pay customers, credits and returns, and the history behind each exception. Freight alone typically absorbs 60–150 bp of revenue (SPARXiQ, writing for NAW, 2021), so the X-Ray’s number is a floor. That is where the Margin Diagnostic goes next, and what Margin Guard watches every month afterwards.

Get the full Margin Diagnostic