Source directory
Supply Chains and Procurement
Primary public sources for this domain, checked 2026-11-02. Delta Arc does not control these sources.
| Source | Can establish | Cannot establish | Updates |
|---|---|---|---|
| Manufacturing and Trade Inventories and Sales, August 2026 (Release CB26-166, October 15, 2026) | National dollar estimates of sales, end-of-month inventories and inventories/sales ratios for total business, manufacturers, retailers and merchant wholesalers, with explanatory notes. | It cannot establish stock or lead-time conditions for a specific commodity, supplier, region or facility. | Monthly; the release states the next report is scheduled for November 17, 2026. |
| Manufacturing and Trade Inventories and Sales, July 2026 (Release CB26-154, September 16, 2026) | The figures for July 2026 as they stood before the retail revision, which allows a comparison of vintages. | It cannot establish current values, because later releases replaced several of its estimates. | Archived single release; the series is monthly. |
| Manufacturing and Trade Inventories and Sales: Definitions | How inventories, sales and shipments are defined and valued in the underlying surveys. | It cannot establish the size of any valuation effect on a published ratio. | not stated |
| Monthly Advance Economic Indicators Report, September 2026 (Release CB26-177, October 28, 2026) | Advance retail and wholesale inventory levels, response rates and sampling variability for September 2026. | It cannot establish a total business inventories/sales ratio, because it carries no sales estimates and no manufacturing estimates. | Monthly; the report states the next release is scheduled for November 27, 2026. |
| Monthly Advance Economic Indicators Report, August 2026 (September 30, 2026) | The advance retail and wholesale inventory levels first published for August 2026. | It cannot establish the later preliminary or benchmarked values for that month. | Archived single release; the report is monthly. |
| Advance Economic Indicators Report FAQs | The stated purpose of the advance report and how the Census Bureau advises users to treat advance estimates. | It cannot establish how large the gap between advance and later estimates will be in any month. | not stated |
| Monthly Wholesale Trade 2026 Revisions Notice | Which wholesale periods were revised in October 2026, the reasons, and how annual benchmarks differ from monthly responses. | It cannot establish the revision size for retail or manufacturing, or the size of future wholesale revisions. | not stated |
| Monthly Wholesale Trade revised adjusted time series, Tables 1a to 1c | Revised adjusted merchant wholesale sales, inventories and ratios by kind of business, January 1992 through August 2026. | It cannot establish conditions at the product or company level, and it excludes manufacturers' sales branches and offices. | not stated |
| Monthly Retail Trade program page, announcements | The date and basis of the 2026 annual revision of monthly retail estimates. | It cannot establish the effect of that revision on the combined total business ratio. | not stated |
| Seasonal Adjustment Questions and Answers | What seasonal adjustment removes, why adjusted and unadjusted series can diverge, and why seasonal factors are revised. | It cannot establish the seasonal pattern of a particular firm or category. | not stated |
| NIPA Handbook, Chapter 7: Change in Private Inventories | How BEA converts book-value inventory data to a uniform price basis and how it describes the use of inventory-sales ratios. | It cannot establish current real inventory-sales values, because it is a methods document. | not stated |
| Description of the International Trade Statistical Program | How import values are defined in official trade statistics, including what customs value leaves out. | It cannot establish the delivered cost of a specific shipment or the inventory position of the importer. | not stated |
| Trade Statistics | CBP operational totals for import value, entry summaries and duties, taxes and fees collected, by fiscal year. | It cannot serve as the official U.S. trade statistics, and it says nothing about domestic inventories. | Page states Last Modified Oct 02, 2026; FY 2025 and FY 2026 figures are stated as updated as of July 27, 2026. |
| Harmonized Tariff Information | The current revision status of the Harmonized Tariff Schedule and links to the schedule, its archive and the DataWeb tariff database. | It cannot establish the classification or duty rate for a particular good without consulting the schedule itself, and it carries no inventory data. | not stated; revisions are announced on the page as they are published. |
Related
Evidence in this domain
Evidence Brief
What the inventories-to-sales ratio tells procurement teams
The US inventories/sales ratio is a revisable, nominal, national aggregate: useful macro context, not a supplier or category signal.
Decision Notes
A Monthly Drop Is Not an Easing
Retail beef prices fell in September and were still above last year. Both are true, and they answer different questions.
Source directory
Where the evidence lives
14 primary sources, with what each can and cannot establish.
How to cite this page. Delta Arc, LLC. “Source directory: Supply Chains and Procurement.” DA-SRC-supply-chains-procurement, version 1, as of 2026-11-02. https://thedeltaarc.com/sources/supply-chains-procurement/