Lab inventory & ordering
Everything else your lab buys, uses up and reorders.
Chemicals have a CAS number. Samples live in a freezer box. Everything else — antibodies, enzymes, kits, media, pipette tips, gloves — usually ends up in a spreadsheet nobody trusts. Lab Inventory gives that stock the same treatment as the rest of your records: categories you define yourself, honest running amounts, alerts before you run out, and a request that turns into stock on the shelf.
- Collections you define — no developer, no migration
- Items and containers kept separate, so amounts add up
- Low-stock and expiry alerts you set per item
- Append-only ledger of who used what, and when
- Request → approve → order → receive
- Growth plan and above
Inventory · Antibodies
Log useItems tracked
184
Across 5 collections
Low stock
7
Below threshold
Open requests
3
Awaiting approval
On order
2
Due this week
Collections you define
An antibody needs host, clonality and dilution. A box of tips needs size and pack quantity. Build each category with the fields it actually needs — start from a template, then change it whenever you like.
Items vs containers
An item is what a thing is; a container is one physical bottle, vial or box of it. Three deliveries of the same reagent stay one item — so “how much do we have?” has an answer.
Log use in a tap
Record what you took at the bench. Amounts can't go negative, an emptied container closes itself off, and first use stamps the opened date.
Low-stock alerts
Set a threshold on the items that matter. Nothing left is always flagged as low, whatever the numbers say — because that's the case that actually bites.
Who used the last of it
Every use, top-up and receipt is appended to a ledger that can't be edited or deleted — so the question is always answerable, months later.
Ordering loop
A request becomes an approval, an order, then stock on the shelf — with the trail kept, so “has anyone already ordered this?” stops being a group chat.
Ask for anything
Request something the lab has never bought before as free text. Nothing is invented behind your back — you create the item properly when it arrives.
One platform
Stock sits beside chemicals, samples, equipment and SOPs, sharing the same roles, alerts and audit log. One register per kind of thing, and no fifth spreadsheet.
From “we’re nearly out” to “it’s on the shelf”
The ordering loop, closed.
Not procurement software — no purchase orders, no invoices. Just the trail a lab actually needs, so a request doesn’t die in someone’s inbox and nothing gets ordered twice.
- 1
Requested
Anyone can say “we're nearly out” — including a view-only student.
- 2
Approved
Someone with permission signs it off.
- 3
Ordered
Marked as placed, so nobody orders it twice.
- 4
Received
Booked in, and the stock appears without retyping anything.
Lab inventory — common questions
What goes in here rather than in Chemicals or Samples?+
The simplest rule: Chemicals is anything with a CAS number or a hazard pictogram, Samples is anything you made or collected that lives in a freezer box, and Inventory is anything you buy, use up and reorder. Antibodies, enzymes, kits, media, tips, gloves and filters all belong here.
Can we track things that don't have an amount?+
Yes. A box of pipette tips doesn't need a running volume — leave the amount blank and it's tracked as a container you can open and finish, without pretending to measure it.
Do we need a developer to add a new category?+
No. You build a collection and its fields in the app — text, number, date, dropdown or checkbox — and change them later without anyone touching the database. Five starter templates cover the common cases so you're not staring at a blank page.
Can a student or a view-only user request something?+
Yes, deliberately. Anyone who can see the inventory can raise a request — the person who notices the box is empty is usually the person at the bench. Approving, ordering and receiving need permission; the requester can always cancel their own request.
What happens when an order arrives?+
You receive it against the order, adding the lot number, location and expiry from the box in your hand. The stock is created for you and the ledger records the receipt, so nothing is typed twice and the trail joins up.
Which plan includes this?+
Lab Inventory and the ordering loop are on the Growth plan and above, alongside bookings, training, risk assessments and the SOP library.
Get your stock under control
Stop finding out you're out of it at the bench.
Free trial with full access. Build a collection, load your stock, and set thresholds on the things you can't run out of.