What it is
Ordering well means answering two questions: when? and how much? The answer does not come from looking at the shelf but from the product’s consumption, how long it takes to arrive and a margin for the unexpected. In most pharmacies the management software proposes the order against minimums and maximums; the human job is to make sure those numbers are reasonable and to review them when sales change.
An order to a wholesaler is continuous: it goes out several times a day against the minimums, so a wrong minimum is repeated at every delivery. That is why it pays to review the minimums before the order.
The three numbers behind an order
For every product that turns over:
- AVERAGE CONSUMPTION: how many units sell per day (or week) on average, looking at several months and not only the last. A seasonal product is judged per season.
- LEAD TIME: how long it takes to arrive from the moment you order. With several deliveries a day it is hours; with a manufacturer direct it can be days.
- SAFETY STOCK: the cushion for a week of higher sales than usual or a delay. The more irregular the sales, the bigger it is.
- REORDER POINT = daily consumption × lead time + safety stock. When stock falls below it, you order.
At the counter
When to recommend it
- Set minimums per product from real consumption
- Check supply problems before ordering something missing nationwide
- Order little and often for what expires soon
- Leave seasonal minimums (flu, allergy, sun) for their moment
When not to
- Raise every minimum “so we never run out”: it ties up money and increases expiries
- Order large quantities only because the order comes with a discount
- Ignore a shortage: ordering more does not make the product exist
- Keep a two-year-old minimum without reviewing it
Warnings
- Important A medicine in shortage is not fixed by ordering more: check the national supply-problem list before blaming the order, and offer the patient the appropriate alternative.
- Caution Cold-chain medicines and controlled drugs (narcotics and psychotropics) have their own ordering and recording circuit: they are not ordered “by routine”.
- Worth knowing Safety stock is money sitting still: put it where a failure would be serious (a chronic treatment) and not where it is easily replaced.
How to review a product’s minimums
- Look at how many units sold in the last three to six months and work out the daily average.
- Multiply by the days the order takes to arrive.
- Add a cushion proportional to how irregular sales are: little for stable products, more for ones that go up and down.
- Compare with the minimum the software has now and correct it if it is far off.
- Repeat the review when something changes: a campaign, a shortage, a new medical practice nearby.
Ordering by minimums versus ordering by hand
| Aspect | By minimums (software proposes) | By hand (when someone sees it is missing) |
|---|---|---|
| Consistency | Goes out on its own at all hours | Depends on who remembers |
| Risk | A wrong minimum is repeated | Unexpected stock-outs |
| When it fits | Products that turn over regularly | Occasional or very expensive items |
| What to watch | Review the minimums often | Note what has been ordered |
What turns over is ordered by well-set minimums; what is occasional, by hand and with thought. In both cases the number that matters is real consumption.
Self-assessment
Three questions. When you check your answers you will see the explanation for each one.
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That way you order just when stock covers what will take to arrive plus a cushion.
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Ordering more does not create stock: what helps is knowing whether there is an alternative.
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That reduces the risk of it expiring in the stockroom.
Training content. It does not replace the summary of product characteristics or clinical judgement.