Notes for owners · Industry-Specific Software Guides
Checklist Before a Surgical Supplies Distributor Moves Off Paper and Excel
Prepare five lists first: a clean item master, current hospital contract rates, stock by lot and expiry, consignment stock agreed at each hospital, and unpaid bills with papers. Those lists become the opening data in the new system. A second person should check each one. Everything else can follow after the switch.
Ganesh HS, Strategy and Technology, GullySystem · · 3 min read
Clean the item master and pack sizes
One item often appears under three names: the company’s, the hospital’s and the one your staff use. Pick one name per item and record the others as aliases. Add the company code, HSN code and pack size.
Pack conversion causes more errors than anything else. A hospital orders in pieces, the company ships in boxes, and your godown counts in cartons. Write down each conversion before any stock is entered.
- One name per item, other names kept as aliases
- Company code, HSN code and GST rate
- Pack sizes and conversions between them
- Items that need a serial as well as a lot
Gather every hospital’s rate contract
List each hospital, nursing home and lab you supply, with its current rates and the dates they are valid. Expired contracts should be marked, not deleted, because old bills still refer to them.
Check the rates against the last few purchase orders from each buyer. Differences found now are cheaper than bills returned later.
Count stock by lot and expiry, consignment included
A count by item alone is not enough. Every box needs its lot number and expiry date recorded, or the new system will start without the dates it needs to pick the shortest-dated lot first.
Consignment stock sitting in operation theatres and ward stores must be counted too. Visit each hospital, count what is on its shelves, and agree the figure with the stores in-charge. Pending usage slips should be collected before the opening count is fixed.
- Godown stock by item, lot and expiry
- Consignment stock at each hospital, agreed in writing
- Usage slips still waiting to be billed
- Short-dated lots flagged separately
List open bills with their papers
Hospitals pay against a set of documents. For each unpaid bill, note the PO number, challan, signed GRN and the date it was submitted. Mark any bill that is missing a paper.
This list becomes the opening outstanding in the new system. It also shows at once which bills are stuck on a document rather than on payment.
Plan the switch and the first month
Choose a quiet date and stop new paper entries from that day. Run the old register and the new system side by side for a short period. Compare stock, dues and consignment balances at the end of each week.
Test a recall before you need one. Pick any lot and ask the system to list every buyer who received it. If the answer is incomplete, the lot data from the opening count needs another look.
Opening data checklist
A five-part checklist covering the item master, rate contracts, lot-wise stock, consignment at each hospital and open bills. Each part names the owner and the date it must be ready. Tick a part only when its figures have been checked by a second person.
Open a blank worksheet to printQuestions owners ask
Do we need to count every lot before going live?
Yes, for anything with an expiry date. Without lots in the opening stock, near-expiry lists and recall searches are wrong from the first day.
Can we start with hospital billing and add consignment later?
Yes. Many distributors move billing and dues first, then bring consignment stock across once the item master is settled. Plan the order before the opening count.
Will new software submit our bills on hospital supplier portals?
Not on its own. Bills and papers can be prepared in each hospital’s layout. A direct portal link depends on what the hospital allows and is scoped separately.