Introducing Stock Management in LabHQ: Clearer Control Over Lab Inventory

Managing lab stock is an essential part of everyday operations, but it can become increasingly difficult as labs grow and workloads increase.

Stock information is often spread across spreadsheets, paper records, and manual checks. Over time, this can make it harder to maintain visibility, anticipate shortages, and confidently demonstrate control during audits.

LabHQ’s Stock Management module brings stock information into one clear, central system, helping labs maintain control, reduce waste, and support compliance without adding complexity to day-to-day workflows.

Common challenges with lab stock management

In many labs, stock tracking develops gradually rather than through a single, defined process. Ordering, usage, and expiry information may be recorded in different places, with checks carried out manually alongside other tasks.

This can lead to challenges such as:

• Stock running low without clear warning
• Expired stock being identified late
• Ordering extra stock “just in case”
• Difficulty explaining stock usage during audits

Without a single, up-to-date view of inventory, it becomes harder to maintain consistent oversight, even for experienced and well-organised teams.

What Stock Management in LabHQ helps labs do

Stock Management in LabHQ is designed to give labs practical control over inventory, without relying on spreadsheets or manual workarounds. It helps teams to:

• Maintain real-time visibility of stock across the lab
• Reduce waste caused by expired or over-ordered materials
• Ensure only approved, in-date stock is used in testing
• Support audits with complete batch-level traceability

Real-time inventory visibility

Stock Management in LabHQ provides a real-time inventory dashboard that brings all stock items into one central view.

From this dashboard, lab teams can quickly see:

• Current stock levels
• Items that are running low
• Items that are out of stock

This visibility allows teams to spot potential issues earlier and plan reordering more effectively, without relying on manual stock counts or informal checks.

Batch lifecycle tracking for quality and compliance

For many labs, understanding which materials were used – and whether they were suitable at the time of testing – is just as important as knowing what is currently in stock.

In LabHQ, stock is tracked at batch level, giving full visibility across the entire batch lifecycle, including:

• Received quantities
• Batch numbers
• Expiry dates
• Approval and testing status

This ensures that only approved and in-date materials are available for use in testing. Where incoming stock requires QC testing, batches can be linked directly into quality workflows, keeping stock and testing data connected in one system.

Managing expired and expiring stock

Expired materials can create both unnecessary waste and compliance risk.

LabHQ clearly highlights:

• Stock that has already expired
• Stock that is approaching its expiry date

By making expiry information easy to see, labs can take timely action – whether that means prioritising usage, reordering supplies, or safely removing unsuitable materials before they cause issues.

Full stock usage traceability and audit trails

Effective stock management also requires a clear understanding of how materials have been used over time.

LabHQ maintains a complete usage history for each stock item, recording:

• What was used
• How much was used
• When it was used
• Who used it
• The purpose of use

This creates a built-in audit trail that supports inspections, investigations, and internal reviews – without the need for additional manual record-keeping.

Integrated into existing lab workflows

Stock Management operates within the same system labs already use for testing and quality processes.

There’s no need to maintain separate stock records or reconcile information across different tools. Stock data remains connected to test methods, QC workflows, and wider lab operations, supporting consistent and controlled day-to-day working.

With real-time visibility, batch-level tracking, and built-in audit trails, LabHQ helps labs stay in control of inventory, reduce risk, and approach audits with confidence – without adding unnecessary complexity.

Related: See how Equipment Management helps labs keep equipment records, calibration, and maintenance in one place.