Inventory Control and Storage
Inventory Control and Storage
Inventory accuracy rests on a perpetual system, in which every transaction updates on-hand quantity, verified by cycle counts rather than one annual wall-to-wall count. ABC analysis directs counting effort to the few high-value or high-volume items (A items) that drive most of the spend. Par levels set a target quantity; the reorder point (ROP) triggers an order and equals average daily use × lead time, plus safety stock.
Stock rotation is FEFO - first-expired, first-out - with FIFO as a fallback for undated goods; expiration dates are checked at receipt and on a scheduled basis thereafter. Storage temperatures: controlled room temperature 20–25 °C (68–77 °F), with excursions to 15–30 °C permitted; refrigerator 2–8 °C (36–46 °F); freezer −25 to −10 °C. Use a calibrated data logger, document readings, and never store drugs where they can freeze or overheat (no bathrooms, no loading docks, nothing directly on the floor).
Security and segregation matter: Schedule II in a locked safe or a dispersed, perpetually counted system; high-alert medications separated with auxiliary labeling; look-alike/sound-alike pairs physically apart; hazardous drugs per USP <800> in negative-pressure, externally vented rooms.
Worked example: daily use is 40 tablets, lead time 5 days, safety stock 3 days' supply (120 tablets). ROP = (40 × 5) + 120 = 320 tablets - reorder when on-hand reaches 320.
Traps: treating the minimum level as the reorder point; rotating FIFO when a later-received lot expires first; assuming a refrigerator may drift to 0 °C without harm.