1. Company profile
"MediCare Pharma Distributors" (fictional): stockist for 30 pharma companies, supplies 1,200 chemists and hospitals; schedule H drugs; cold-chain vaccines; medical devices with serial numbers.
2. Regulatory and operational needs
- Batch number + expiry on every invoice line (legal requirement in India).
- Near-expiry returns to manufacturers; expired stock quarantine.
- Drug licence numbers on customer and vendor records; block sales to unlicensed buyers.
- Cold-chain locations; temperature logs.
- Schemes from manufacturers (e.g., 10+1 free goods).
3. Apps
Inventory (lots/serials/expiry), Purchase, Sales, Accounting (GST, e-invoice, e-way bill), Barcode, Quality (incoming inspection), Studio (licence fields, report changes), Documents, Sign.
4. Design decisions
| Topic | Decision |
|---|---|
| Tracking | Lots for medicines with expiry dates; serials for devices |
| Removal | FEFO |
| Locations | Stock / Cold-room (2–8 °C) / Quarantine / Near-expiry; putaway rules by product category (vaccines → cold room) |
| Licence check | Studio fields Drug Licence No. and Valid Until on contacts; automation rule/blocking warning when expired |
| Invoice layout | Lot and expiry printed on invoice lines (setting Display lots & serial numbers on invoices) |
| Free goods schemes | Loyalty/promotions "Buy 10 get 1 free" on purchase side via vendor pricelist; on the sales side via promotions |
| Returns | Customer returns → Quarantine location; return to vendor or scrap |
| Near expiry | Expiry alert dates; weekly report of lots expiring in 90 days; move to "Near-expiry" location and sell with a discount pricelist |
| Pricing | MRP-based pricing, PTR/PTS margins via pricelist formulas |
5. Configuration steps
- Inventory settings: Lots & Serials ✔, Expiration dates ✔, Multi-locations ✔, Quality ✔; Display Lots & Serial Numbers on Invoices ✔ (Accounting/Sales setting).
- Categories: Schedule H, OTC, Vaccines (cold chain), Devices; FEFO removal.
- Putaway rules: Vaccines → Cold-room.
- Studio: licence fields; automation "On SO confirmation, if licence expired → raise error" (or a blocking sale warning maintained by the automation).
- QCP on receipts: check batch/expiry vs documents, temperature for cold chain.
- India localisation: e-invoice (IRN) & e-way bill integration.
- Reports: expiry ageing, batch-wise stock, sales by manufacturer.
6. Pitfalls
- Never allow negative stock with lots; it breaks traceability.
- Train receivers to scan GS1 barcodes (the barcode app parses lot and expiry from GS1).
- Keep returns and expired stock in separate locations excluded from saleable stock.
7. Version notes
| v18 | v19 | v20 |
|---|---|---|
| FEFO, GS1 barcodes | Forecast shows expired products; lot properties in barcode | Traceability report upstream/downstream, bulk lot/serial generation in barcode |