Lab inventory management is the reagent shelf and the consumables cupboard kept as a record: what is on hand, by lot, with its expiry, and what each test consumes. A lab inventory is therefore two lists, reagents by lot and consumables by count, and lab inventory management software or a lab inventory management system is the record that decrements both as tests are run and warns before a lot expires or a count reaches zero. For a small lab the inventory feeds the one figure the lab is priced on, the cost per test, and the free cost per test sheet on this site works it from the lab's own numbers with no account.
Reagents by lot, with expiry
A reagent is not a quantity; it is lots with expiry dates and certificates, and a result cites the lot it used. Lab inventory management software that keeps the quantity without the lot cannot answer the recall question or the audit's. The record keeps lot, quantity, expiry and the tests that consumed it.
Consumables by count, decremented by the test
Tips, tubes, plates and filters are counted, and each test consumes a known set; a lab inventory management system decrements the count when the test is recorded and reorders at a par. The par is the lab's own; the site publishes no benchmark.
What the inventory feeds
Reagent cost per test plus consumables per test plus analyst labor is the direct cost, and overhead per test on top is the full cost: $23 and $29 on the worked example, with $16 of margin at a $45 price, from the cost per test sheet on this site. Limslane Pro keeps the lots, the counts and the cost per test against the tests at one flat price.
Questions people ask about lab inventory management
What is lab inventory management?
Reagents by lot with expiry and consumables by count, decremented as tests are recorded and reordered at a par, kept as a record rather than a shelf check.
What must a lab inventory management system keep?
Lot, quantity, expiry and the tests that consumed each lot; consumables counts and pars; and the cost per test the inventory feeds.
What is the cost per test on the worked example?
$29 full cost and $16 margin at a $45 price, from seven figures on the free cost per test sheet.