Inventory Ally allows your team to record waste when inventory is damaged, expired, spoiled, or otherwise unusable. Reporting waste helps keep on-hand quantities accurate and gives your hospital better visibility into shrink, product loss, and recurring inventory issues.
This article walks through how to report waste in Inventory Ally and how waste activity supports more accurate inventory tracking and reporting.
This functionality is available for subscribers on the Insights Tier.
When to report waste
Use Report Waste when an item has already been received into inventory but can no longer be used or sold. Common examples include:
A medication vial was dropped or damaged.
Vaccines or refrigerated products spoiled after a refrigerator issue.
An item expired before it could be used.
Product was damaged, wasted, spoiled, or otherwise removed from usable inventory.
Reporting waste helps Inventory Ally compare what was ordered, what was sold, what was wasted, and what remains on hand.
Step-by-Step Instructions
1. Open the side menu in the Inventory Ally mobile app.
2. Select Report Waste.
3. Search for and select the inventory item you want to report.
Tip: If your hospital stocks multiple sizes or formulations of the same product, verify that you've selected the correct inventory item before continuing.
4. If applicable, select the appropriate unit of measure.
Note: Available units depend on how the inventory item is configured.
5. Enter the quantity that was wasted and the appropriate Reason for Waste.
6. Update the Reported By field, if needed, and click Mark wasted.
Note: Once submitted, the waste entry is recorded in Inventory Ally and becomes part of your hospital's inventory history.
Why waste reporting matters
Waste reporting gives your hospital a more complete picture of its inventory. Instead of only tracking orders, counts, and sales, Inventory Ally can also account for inventory loss.
This helps your team understand:
How much product was ordered
How much product was sold
How much product was wasted
How much product should remain on hand
Whether certain items or categories have recurring waste patterns
Reviewing waste activity
Waste activity can be used to support inventory reporting and shrink analysis. Waste reporting helps identify where inventory loss is occurring and may help your team spot patterns, such as repeated product damage, expired medications, or recurring refrigerator-related losses.
Final notes
Use Report Waste whenever usable inventory needs to be removed because it was damaged, spoiled, expired, or otherwise wasted. Consistently reporting waste helps Inventory Ally maintain more accurate inventory data and gives your hospital better insight into shrink and product loss.