How do I know if inventory has moved in and out of a container?

Last Updated: May 2024

It can be difficult to keep track of medical device inventory, and even more challenging to maintain effective records of inventory movement and traceability. While ConnectSx automatically tracks changes in custody, you may find yourself wondering how to track when inventory has been added or removed from a container. While we are working on even more robust inventory tracking functionality in the near future, there are ways of tracking this data now using components of the system that already exist.

To track inventory as it moves in and out of a container, you will need to utilize transfers. During a transfer you may change the container that a device is being transferred into, which creates a record of which container the item is being transferred into.

However, to create this transfer you’ll need to transfer between the Org custody and another custodian. It is best to set up a custodian-only user to use, naming it something like “Container Transfers - Custodian Only” for instance that you will know internally via your business processes is used only for transferring items into containers.

The steps below explain further what you’ll need to do to set this up.

1. Create a user (using the Add User method, not invite) and call them something identifiable to your internal business processes, such as “Container Transfers - Custodian Only”.

2. Check the box in the user detail screen for that user to make them a Custodian only user. This will mean that no physical person can log into that account and it is only used systematically as an inventory custodian.

    
    

3. Create business process documentation that indicates how inventory will be added to containers in order to collect the container changes.

   1. In order to stock a container, the container should be in the “Container Transfer - Custodian Only” custody. If it is not, transfer it to that custody.

   2. To stock devices into a container, create a transfer from the Organization to the custodian only user. The transfer will pull items from loose stock to be transferred directly into the container in the custodian only user’s custody. Make sure to assign the correct container during the transfer.

       

   3. The transfer detail will reflect the container the items were transferred into, as will the transfer report.

       

      

   4. Once the container has been fully stocked, transfer it back to the Org custody where it will be available for shipment to the field.