"It may be beneficial to purchase this item in large enough quantities that the cost of repeatedly ordering it is minimized. At the same time, you will want to keep the dollar value of inventory as low as possible in order to minimize carrying costs. The quantity of the item to order that best balances these factors is called the Economic Order Quantity. This value is not calculated by the package. You should determine, based on your experience, what this quantity should be and enter it here."