Managing Expiring Inventory

ConnectSx offers great ways to keep track of your expiring inventory and make sure you know early on how long you have to move through that inventory before it expires. Let’s take a look at how to manage your inventory’s expiration dates:

Entering an Expiration Date:

You may add your expiration dates to your inventory import files (this is what we recommend - read more about inventory imports here and here). However, you may also enter an expiration date or check an expiration date in the device detail screen:

1. Navigate to the Inventory screen and search for a piece of your inventory that you’d like to enter the expiration date for. Then click on it to open it’s detail screen.

2. Scroll down to the “Expiration Date” field in the UDI section of the detail screen.

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3. Next, click on the calendar icon to select the expiration date. Click “Save” to add the expiration date.

Note: If a UDI containing the Expiration is entered, the system will parse the UDI and automatically populate the expiration date. The UDI is considered the source of truth.

Tracking your Expiring Inventory

There are a number of ways to track your inventory expirations to ensure that you move through the inventory in the allotted time and reduce waste from expired product:

1. Expiration Flags: When inventory is approaching its expiration date, the inventory will be assigned flags to warn you that inventory expiration is imminent. These flags reflect the number of days until inventory will expire.

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These tags will start appearing 365 days out from the inventory expiration date all the way up until the inventory expires, when an “Expired” flag will be applied.

2. Expiration Filters: You can also filter your inventory by ranges of time until they expire. As inventory is approaching expiration dates you can make decisions to push that inventory out before it expires, or to pull that inventory back from the field so there is no risk of expired inventory being used. The available options are:

• Expired

• Within 30 Days

• 31-60 Days

• 61-120 Days

• 121-180 Days

• 181-365 Days

3. Reporting: You can also always export your inventory and use Excel to filter and view your expiration dates. For more information about exports look here.

What to do with your Expiring Inventory?

Your expired inventory will not be able to be used in certain Event Types (Case, Loan, Stocking Order, Trial). Now that this inventory is unusable you probably want to start tracking it down and bringing it back in from the field to prevent further use, or perhaps you’re being preemptive and quarantining the inventory 30-60 days out.

1. Initiate transfers to bring all of the expired inventory back from the field with Due back Dates to the Organization

2. Communicate with your distributors and sales reps that these transfers are urgent/sensitive and that they must be completed by the Due Back Date

3. Once the inventory is back at the organization, if the inventory will not be immediately removed, consider setting a Hold Status of “Quarantine” to prevent further modification or use.

4. Deactivate the inventory using a valid event type:

   1. Return - Is the expired inventory going to be returned to the manufacturer for reprocessing or disposal? Consume it from your account using the Return event type. Give it a name that reflects the expiring inventory.

   2. Stock Adjustment - Remove the inventory from your account so it may no longer be used using the Stock Adjustment event type. Give it a name that reflects the expiring inventory.

   3. Other - The event type of other can be used to deactivate inventory for myriad reasons. The Name and Description field give flexibility for noting the context of the scenario requiring inventory deactivation.