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SystemField Inventory & Supply Chain

Consignment Cycle Count Reconciliation

Consignment inventory reconciliation that traces each short implant to the document that explains it, hands used and unbilled units to billing, and leaves only the rest for a two-signature write-off.

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Follow 31 short units from the bin wall to two signatures ↓
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The problem

Thirty-one implants missing from a hospital shelf, and most are not lost

Knees, hips and trauma plates sit on hospital shelves and in reps' trunks, and they belong to the maker until a surgeon uses them. Each quarter a territory team scans each bin, and the count comes back short against the book.

An analyst then opens the ERP, the field inventory app, the hospital's implant log and a folder of emails, and chases one serial at a time. Units that were implanted and not billed, moved to a trunk, or still on a truck look exactly like losses. When the quarter has to close, whatever is left unexplained gets written off, and revenue goes with it.

Built forField inventory analystsConsignment auditorsTerritory managersControllers

The Problem Today

After each hospital count, people search unit by unit for why stock is short, and the rest gets written off.

20,000
count reconciliations a year at 5,000 consignment accounts our estimate

Searched by hand today

  • Implant log
  • Usage forms
  • Trunk scans
  • Returns
  • Used, never billedA form saved as a draft means no purchase order
  • Hospitals disputeWithout the line that proves it, the claim stalls

The Solution

  1. Draw the room, bin by binFour bays of shelves, count against book in each bin
  2. Give each unit a fateMatched by catalog, lot and serial to the line that explains it
  3. Hand used units to billingUsed, unbilled units go to bill-only reconciliation instead of losses
  4. Two signatures to write offOnly unexplained units; above a set value the controller signs too

Built-in controls

  • Checkers open each record before signing
  • Agents never post, sign or send
  • Product safety questions go to a person

What You Get

Analysts close a count from the records, and only what no document explains reaches a write-off.

  • Any lot or serial searchableFind a unit and see its bin and its fate
  • Expiry seen aheadRotations proposed; a hold takes effect at once
  • Evidence in one exportWho, what, when, why and each signature's meaning
One orthopedic consignment room

A consignment inventory reconciliation: $86,400 short, $13,950 unexplained

A hospital's orthopedic room with 212 bins, 640 catalog numbers and 1,846 units on the book. The territory team counted 1,815. The field inventory analyst takes the variance two days later.

demoThe hospital, the implants, the people, the documents and every price are sample data.

  1. 01Morning

    212 bins drawn as four bays, and 23 of them come up short

    Field inventory analyst

    The room appears as its shelves: knee femorals and baseplates in bay A, tibial inserts by size and thickness in bay B, hip stems and shells in bay C, trauma plates and screws in bay D. Each bin shows counted over book. The count line reads 31 short in 23 bins, $86,400, and 14 units expire within 90 days.

  2. 02Trace

    26 short units get a fate from a document; 5 have none anywhere

    Field inventory analyst

    She starts the trace and the bins recolor as each unit gets a fate. The usage tracer read 1,236 implant log lines, the movement tracer found 7 units scanned to a rep's trunk, and shipments and returns place 5 more. Searches across the other 13 hospitals found nothing for the last five. The agents hand her 26 fates to accept.

  3. 03Proof

    The hip stem in C-20 was implanted, and the purchase order left it out

    Field inventory analyst

    Unit V13 opens beside its proof. The hospital's implant log shows the stem implanted with its lot and serial in case 3-26-48731. Purchase order 4500-38812 billed the shell and liner only, so no invoice exists for the stem. Under the consignment agreement, the hospital owes a purchase order within five business days of use. Confidence 93%.

  4. 04Proof

    A trunk scan with the lot one digit short stays locked at 84%

    Field inventory analyst

    V20, a tibial insert, was scanned into a rep's trunk on a transfer that did not post because the trunk's location code changed. The scan reads lot 43R26725, one digit short of the book's 43R267250, while the serial matches. Accept stays locked until she opens the scan herself, so a near miss is read before it is believed.

  5. 0509:26

    Five implanted units go to bill-only reconciliation instead of losses

    Field inventory analyst

    After accepting the group, she hands $11,383 in two cases to bill-only reconciliation. For the knee case, the implant log shows three units implanted, and the usage form was saved as a draft and not submitted, so nobody requested a purchase order. Each line carries its citation, and the count evidence downloads for the hospital.

  6. 0609:28

    Two inserts in B-33 go back for a recount instead of a write-off

    Field inventory analyst

    V30 shows where the agents looked: nine sources, from the implant log and usage forms to transfers to the other hospitals. Nothing matches. The last line differs: scanner session 1 read the serial and session 2 did not. She sends both inserts, $3,600, to the territory manager, due in three business days.

  7. 0709:30

    A $10,350 write-off is over the line, so it routes to the controller

    Field inventory analyst

    Three revision parts have no record in nine sources. She signs as preparer with her own name and PIN, and her words are kept exactly, marked as not compared, for the next signer to read. Because $10,350 is over $10,000, the rule in force routes it to the controller, and she cannot countersign her own write-off.

  8. 0809:31

    The controller opens each unit's search trail before she can sign

    Controller

    Each unit expands to its trail: implant log, usage forms, trunk scans for four reps, shipments and proofs of delivery, returns, transfers to the other 13 hospitals, last quarter's count and the scanner sessions. Each one reads none or not read in any session. The analyst's words sit under each unit. Countersign stays locked until all three are opened.

  9. 0909:33

    Approved by two people and queued to the ERP as a loss adjustment

    Controller

    She signs with her own name and PIN, in her own session, with the meaning approved by, as second signature. The write-off moves to queued to the ERP, and the region's list shows who countersigned the others this quarter. Her next step reads that nothing waits for her signature on this count.

Where the 31 short units went, at contract price

Only the last line can become a loss, and part of it went to recount.

Implanted and billed after the book was taken, 9 units$21,493
Implanted, not yet billed, 5 unitsHanded to bill-only reconciliation.$11,383
Moved to a rep's trunk, 7 units$17,024
Replenishment in transit, 4 units$17,300
Expired and returned, 1 unit$5,250
Unexplained, 5 units$3,600 sent for recount and $10,350 written off with two signatures.$13,950
Short at the count, 31 units$86,400

demoSample data, from the working solution.

Four short units a hurried reconciliation would have written off

A usage form saved as a draft

Three knee implants were in the implant log, but the form was not submitted, so no purchase order came. They went to billing, $6,868.

A purchase order that billed only part of the case

The hip case billed the shell and liner; the stem and ceramic head, $4,515, went to billing with the log line.

A lot scanned one digit short

The trunk scan for one insert dropped a digit of the lot while the serial matched. It was flagged at 84% instead of matched.

Scanner sessions that disagree

In bin B-33, one session read two serials and the next did not. They went to recount instead of loss.

demoSample data, from the working solution.

Around the count

Intake, bins, expiry and the quarter's counts behind consignment inventory

What the analyst, the territory manager and the auditor open while the count is still open.

Count intakeTwo scanner files and one paper sheet read into 1,815 counted units: 312 repeat reads removed, one handwritten figure confirmed by a person.
One bin of insertsBook 9, counted 7: each insert by lot, serial and expiry, with the two short ones marked against their unit lines.
Fates and the auditor's sampleAccept by fate group; the consignment auditor checks 6 of 26, at least one per fate. The analyst cannot check her own acceptances.
Near expiry14 units in 9 bins expire within 90 days. Two shells inside 30 days are proposed for a hold from case picks; the territory manager approves rotations.
The quarter's counts5,000 accounts, each counted every quarter; the Central region alone holds 1,240, with 21 past the close date.
Audit trailEach hand-off, recount and signature with its session, reason and meaning. The trail and the evidence pack export.

demoSample data, from the working solution.

Five roles, and nobody countersigns their own write-off

Each one reads a different record first.

Field inventory analyst
Sees
The bin wall, each unit's proof and the near misses
Signs
Accepts fates, hands off to billing, prepares write-offs
Consignment auditor
Sees
A sample of accepted fates, at least one per fate
Signs
Countersigns write-offs up to the controller's line and book corrections
Territory manager
Sees
Recount tasks with their reason and due date, and expiry proposals
Signs
Records recounts and approves rotations
Controller
Sees
Each unit's search trail and the analyst's exact words
Signs
Second signature on write-offs above the threshold, and money settings
Hospital materials manager
Sees
Used units with no purchase order, with the hospital's own log lines
Signs
Nothing: a read-only guest with no view of write-offs
Who traces the units

Seven agents read the count and the records, and none of them posts

They match and propose; people accept, post and sign.

Count reader

Reads scanner files and photos of paper sheets into bin, catalog, lot and serial lines.

  • Never edits a count
  • Never guesses a figure it cannot read
Book matcher

Compares the count with the ERP book and lists short units at contract price.

  • Never changes the book
Usage tracer

Matches short units to implant log lines, usage forms, purchase orders and invoices.

  • Never treats a sticker with no case date as usage
  • Never reads clinical notes
Movement tracer

Matches trunk scans, shipments with proofs of delivery, and returns.

  • Never counts a transfer without a scan
  • Flags a one-digit lot difference
Bill-only hand-off

Lists implanted, unbilled units by case with the line that shows the gap.

  • Never requests a purchase order or contacts a hospital
Expiry watcher

Flags units expiring within the window and proposes rotation, return, keep or hold.

  • Never moves stock
  • Never says whether a product can be used
Write-off preparer

Packages unexplained units with their search trail and routes them by value.

  • Never signs
  • Never includes an explained unit

What field inventory teams ask about consignment inventory reconciliation

What is consignment inventory reconciliation?

Consignment inventory reconciliation explains the gap between a hospital count and the maker's book. Here each short unit is matched by catalog, lot and serial to an implant log line, a usage form, a trunk scan, a shipment or a return, and only the unexplained remainder can be written off.

Do the agents write anything off?

No. The write-off preparer packages unexplained units with their search trail. The analyst signs as preparer and a second person countersigns, the controller above the threshold, after opening each unit.

What happens to implants that were used but never billed?

They go to bill-only purchase order reconciliation with the implant log line and the form or order that shows the gap. The agents do not request purchase orders or contact the hospital themselves.

What if the scanner simply missed a unit?

Where scanner sessions disagree, the analyst sends the units to the territory manager for a recount. The recount is read by a person before it changes anything.

Can the hospital see our write-offs?

No. A hospital guest sees its own rooms and the bill-only hand-off with its evidence, and can download that evidence. Fates, write-offs, the audit trail and settings are not shared with guests.

Will it tell us whether an expired implant can still be used?

No. The expiry watcher proposes rotation, return or a hold, and a hold takes effect at once. Whether a product can be used, shipped or released is decided by the field quality lead.

Field Inventory & Supply Chain

Field inventory and implant billing work around the count

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Bring one hospital count
and the book it was taken against.

We will trace each short unit to a document and show you what is left to explain.

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