Batch and expiry tracking means recording the manufacture date, expiry date, and batch number for every unit of stock — not just the product name — and using that data to sell older stock before newer stock, a method called FEFO, rather than reordering simply by arrival date. For a pharmacy or wholesaler, getting this wrong isn’t just a financial loss from expired stock — it’s a compliance and patient-safety risk.
Why Batch-Level Tracking Beats a Simple Stock Count
Two boxes of the same drug can carry different expiry dates and different batch numbers. NAFDAC’s Good Distribution Practice Regulations require distributors to maintain written policies for receipt, security, and storage, and to produce accurate records on demand — a system that only tracks quantity per product name can’t answer “which batch is this” at the exact moment it matters most: a recall.
FEFO, Not FIFO
First-Expiry-First-Out — not First-In-First-Out — is the correct picking method for expiry-based stock, because a shipment that arrives later can still carry an earlier expiry date than stock already on the shelf. Selling by arrival order instead of expiry order is how pharmacies end up writing off stock that FEFO would have sold in time.
The Counterfeit Problem Makes Records Non-Negotiable
The World Health Organization has estimated that up to 30-40% of medicines in circulation across sub-Saharan Africa are substandard or falsified, which is exactly why NAFDAC runs its Mobile Authentication Service and enforces registration numbers on every legal product. A pharmacy or wholesaler that can produce a clean NAFDAC registration number and batch trail for every unit sold is protected if a product is ever challenged; one relying on memory or delivery notes isn’t.
What This Looks Like in Practice
- Manufacture date, expiry date, and batch number captured per unit at receipt
- FEFO picking applied automatically at the point of sale, not left to staff judgment
- NAFDAC registration number stored per product for compliance documentation
- Forward traceability (which customers received a batch) and backward traceability (where a batch came from) available in minutes, not by searching paper delivery notes
How Datalex Approaches This
Datalex’s Pharmaceutical Wholesale & Distributor Inventory System builds batch, expiry, and NAFDAC-registration tracking in as the default, with FEFO picking applied automatically and credit-sale tracking for the retail pharmacies and hospitals wholesalers sell to on account. See the full breakdown on the Pharmaceutical Wholesale & Distributor Inventory System page.
FAQ
Does FEFO tracking work for both wholesalers and retail pharmacy counters?
Yes — the same batch and expiry logic applies whether stock is being picked for a bulk order to a retailer or sold across a pharmacy counter.
Can this replace NAFDAC’s Mobile Authentication Service?
No — MAS is a consumer-facing authenticity check run by NAFDAC. Batch and expiry tracking is your own internal record-keeping and traceability, which supports compliance but doesn’t replace MAS.
What happens to stock nearing expiry that hasn’t sold yet?
Good batch tracking flags stock approaching expiry early enough to discount, return to supplier, or redirect — before it becomes a full write-off.
If your current records can’t show which batch a specific unit came from in under a minute, that’s worth fixing before a recall or an audit forces the question. Book a free demo with your actual stock data.