How do I stop expired goods from leaving my warehouse?

2026-11-10 | Intagya ERP

A dairy distributor gets a call from a supermarket: a carton of milk delivered yesterday expired two days ago. The driver swears he took it from the front shelf, as he was told.

He is telling the truth. The front shelf held two lots, and the picking sheet only named the product.

Why do expired goods leave even when my staff are careful?

Because the date is printed on the box, not held in the system. If nobody reads it while picking, nobody knows it afterwards.

In a busy warehouse nobody reads the date on every carton. People take what is nearest. Asking the team to pay attention is not enough; the date has to be part of the stock move itself.

What is the difference between a product and a lot?

The product is “Full cream milk 1 litre”. A lot is one batch of it that arrived together and has one expiry date. You may hold three lots of the same product: one expiring in two days, one in two weeks and one in a month.

While the system only knows the product, it cannot tell them apart. Once it knows the lots, it knows which carton should leave first.

How do I record expiry dates in the system?

Once per product, then with every receipt.

1. Open the product and, under More details, then the Inventory tab, turn on the expiration date. The system turns on lot tracking with it.
2. When the shipment arrives, write each lot number and its expiry date.
3. From then on the system ships the nearest expiry first, because the product category takes that removal method unless it already has another one.

Start with the products where expiry costs you most: dairy, meat, medicine. Do not turn dates on for detergents and plastics on day one.

What happens if someone tries to deliver an expired lot?

The delivery stops. When the storekeeper validates a delivery holding a lot past its date, a message names the delivery and the lot and asks to replace it with a valid lot or scrap it.

That beats a month-end report telling you what went out wrong. Stopping it at the door protects the customer and your name.

If you have a real reason to ship expired goods, such as returning them to the vendor, a setting allows it. It is off from the start, and we think most companies should leave it off.

How do I know what will expire before it does?

Every morning the inventory managers get one to-do per product listing each lot that expires within 30 days, with its date and quantity. The number of days is an Inventory setting: a pharmacy may want 90 days and a bakery seven.

Lots close to expiry also show under Needs you on the Inventory overview page, next to late transfers and stock counts.

What should I do with lots that are about to expire?

A month ahead is enough time to act. Move them to the branch that sells faster, offer them at a lower price for a set time, or ask the vendor about a return. What has already expired, record as scrap with its reason, so quantity and value stay right and you see what you lose each month.

In Intagya ERP the dates, the warnings and the delivery block all live in the same inventory that issues your invoices, so you need no side spreadsheet for expiry.

Tomorrow morning pick five products that expire fast, turn on their expiration date and record the dates of what is on the shelves now. Within a week you will see the first warning, and how much was slipping past you.

Read the expiry dates steps in the guide