A logbook, a fridge and a surprise
A new box of reagent arrives. Someone writes the lot number, date received and expiry in the logbook, opens it and writes the date opened on the bottle. Reference standards have their own log. Media prepared in-house have another. When a batch of tests needs investigating, someone works out which lots were in use at the time by reading the logbooks and bench sheets.
Now and then, an analyst reaches for a standard and finds it expired last week. Or the last kit of a lot is used and the next order has not been placed.
Why stock control is weak
- Receipt, opening and use are recorded in separate paper logs.
- Expiry dates are checked by eye, if at all.
- Opened-on dates and shortened in-use expiries are written on bottles.
- Stock levels are counted when someone notices a shelf is low.
- Linking lots to tests requires reconstructing from logbooks.
Ordering compounds it. The person who places orders often relies on analysts telling them when something is low, which happens when the last box is opened. Suppliers' lead times for some reagents and reference materials are long, so a late order means a gap in testing.
What it costs
Expired items are used by mistake, or discarded unused because nobody knew they were there. Stock-outs delay testing. Investigations into questionable results take far longer when lots have to be traced on paper. Assessors expect traceability that paper struggles to provide.
| Task | Paper logs | Stock tracking |
|---|---|---|
| Receipt | Written in the logbook | Scanned in with lot and expiry |
| Opening | Date written on the bottle | Scanned, in-use expiry calculated and printed |
| Expiry | Checked by eye | Alerts before expiry |
| Stock level | Counted when low | Tracked, with reorder points |
| Traceability | Reconstructed from logs | Lots linked to worklists or tests |
Assessors often ask to trace a reported result back to the reagents and standards used. If that takes hours of logbook work, it is uncomfortable in an assessment, and it is even more uncomfortable when a supplier issues a notice about a faulty lot and you need to know quickly which results might be affected.
How we build it
- Items are received by scanning the supplier's barcode where present, or entering the lot and expiry once. A label with an internal ID is printed.
- Opening an item is a scan, which records the date and prints a label with the in-use expiry your procedures set.
- Stock levels are tracked per location, with reorder points and alerts to whoever places orders.
- Alerts go out before items expire, listing what and where.
- When an analyst starts a batch, they scan the lots in use, and the record is linked to the worklist or tests in the LIMS where it allows.
- Traceability reports show which tests used a given lot, and which lots a given test used.
What changes
Expired stock is spotted before use. Orders are placed before shelves are empty. Traceability questions are answered by a report rather than an afternoon with logbooks. Analysts spend less time writing on bottles.
Waste falls too. When items are received with their expiry recorded and alerts go out ahead of time, stock that is close to expiry can be used first or moved to a section that uses it quickly, rather than being found expired at the back of a fridge.
Is this your stock room?
- Lots and expiry dates are written in logbooks.
- Expired items have been found in use.
- Stock runs out unexpectedly.
- Tracing which lots a result used takes hours.
- In-use expiry dates are handwritten on bottles.