Hold every lot of syringes, IV sets and dressings from resin or cotton to sterile release.

Syringes, IV administration sets, catheters, gauze and dressings share one habit. They are made in lots, packed into pouches or blister packs, sterilised and released with an expiry date. A complaint from a hospital always names a lot number. Everything hangs on it.

Makers of these products live with line clearance, cleanroom entries, packing counts and sterilisation loads. Customers and auditors read these records. So the factory needs one lot history rather than separate files in production, stores and the quality office.

Raw material arrives as polypropylene or PVC resin, rubber plungers, needles, tubing, cotton, non-woven fabric or film. Stores hold each lot in quarantine. Release waits for incoming inspection. Moulding, extrusion or assembly lines are cleared before a new lot starts, and operators record counts, rejects and the lot of every component used.

Finished goods are counted into inner packs, shelf boxes and shippers. Loads then go to an outside sterilisation site, or to an in-house chamber, with a cycle record attached. Product waits. The sterilisation result and quality release must come first. Dispatch uses the lots closest to expiry first, and expiry dates are printed on every carton label.