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Solution · Operations & qualityProducts used in order of expiry, ordered from the schedule, and the fridge watched even at three on a Saturday morning
Product stock: expiry dates and the fridge
A robot keeps product stock with batches and expiry dates: it books deliveries from wholesaler files, deducts usage from treatments, and every week publishes a list of packs to use first. It compares stock with the treatment schedule and proposes an order for approval in Teams. It also reads the fridge temperature logger, informs the person on call of any irregularity, and flags the batches in the fridge for the doctor’s decision.
Executive summary
Products are one of a clinic’s biggest costs, yet their stock, expiry dates and storage temperature are watched today with a spreadsheet, memory and a thermometer checked during working hours.
A robot keeps stock with batches and dates, deducts usage from treatments, shows what to use first, proposes orders from the schedule and reads the fridge temperature around the clock with an alert to the person on call.
Less expired product, no treatment postponed for lack of stock, a fast response to a fridge failure and a stocktake in a quarter of an hour; lower costs and lower risk.
delivery files from the wholesaler; usage from the batch register and the clinic system; a Wi-Fi temperature logger; a register in SharePoint; approvals and alerts in Microsoft Teams
Business problem
A clinic’s stock is tens of thousands of euros in a cupboard and a fridge, watched with a spreadsheet and a good memory
Toxins, fillers, biostimulators, anaesthetics and disposables are one of an aesthetic clinic’s biggest costs, and demanding goods too: they have expiry dates, some must be kept in a fridge, and shortages come to light at the worst moment, with a patient in the chair.
Today stock is kept in a spreadsheet that is accurate on the day of counting. A new delivery goes to the front of the shelf, so older packs move to the back and wait for their date to pass. An empty box is the order reminder, and an urgent order with express delivery costs more or does not arrive in time, and the treatment has to be postponed.
The fridge is a chapter of its own. The temperature is checked during working hours, if at all, and a failure on Friday evening or a door left ajar after a delivery comes to light on Monday morning. Then nobody knows how long the deviation lasted or which batches were inside, and the fate of products worth thousands of euros is decided without data.
All these problems share one cause: nobody has time to look at the stock every day, and the stock needs looking at every day. A robot can look every few minutes, at night and at weekends too, and speak up only when it must.
How it works today
Below is what the work looks like before anything is automated.
- PersonA delivery goes onto the shelf and into the fridge, newer packs in front
- Risk of errorStock in a spreadsheet, accurate on the day of counting
- WaitingExpiry dates are checked when someone remembers
- Risk of errorA product runs out on the day of the treatment; a rushed order
- WaitingAt the weekend the fridge runs without a witness
- Risk of errorExpired packs come to light during a treatment
Why the current process costs more than it appears
The bill that never shows up in a budget.
- How many product packs did you throw away last year because they expired?
- How many times last quarter did a treatment have to be postponed or rescued by an urgent order because product ran out?
- Who would learn of a fridge failure at three on a Saturday morning, and how long before they react?
- How long does your stocktake take, and how far does its result differ from the spreadsheet?
Cost of inaction
The model assumes product and material purchases of about 20 000 € a month, an average treatment worth around 250 € and two treatments a month postponed for lack of stock. You will know your own numbers from the invoices for expired packs and the calendar of postponed visits.
The third line has no amount, but one weekend of fridge failure can cost more than both other lines together. Or nothing, if someone learns of the problem within a quarter of an hour.
A model organisation with realistic proportions – the numbers exist so you can run the same maths on your own data; they are not a client result.
An aesthetic clinic: 3 treatment rooms, 5 doctors and cosmetologists, about 600 treatment visits a month, some 80 product and material lines, a product fridge, Microsoft 365.
Monday: a delivery arrives. The robot books the lines from the wholesaler’s invoice file, and the assistant confirms the pack count, batches and expiry dates in Teams. It takes her two minutes.
Tuesday: the robot publishes the weekly use-first list, four packs expiring within 60 days. It deducts treatment usage continuously from the batch register.
Wednesday: the robot compares toxin stock with the treatments scheduled for the next two weeks and proposes an order. The owner approves it in Teams with one click, and the order goes to the wholesaler by email.
Saturday, 3:20 a.m.: the logger shows 11 °C in the fridge, above the range the clinic set. The robot sends an SMS and a Teams message to the person on call and flags the fridge batches for decision. The cause is a door left ajar; on Monday the doctor decides on the products, with the full temperature record.
After a year: fewer expired packs, no treatment postponed for lack of product, a stocktake in a quarter of an hour. The modelled value is about 10 000 € a year. These are model figures, not the clinic’s records.
Proposed solution
The basis is a stock register with batches and expiry dates. The robot books deliveries from wholesaler invoice files or statements, and where there are none, the assistant enters the delivery in a short form on her phone. The robot deducts usage from treatments using the batch register and the records in the clinic system, so stock is current every day, not just on counting day. A stocktake is done from a phone in a quarter of an hour, and the robot shows the differences at once.
Three guards work on this register. The first watches dates: a weekly list of packs to use first and alerts with a lead time the clinic sets, and a pack past its date goes onto a disposal list under the clinic’s procedure. The second watches orders: it compares stock with the treatments in the schedule and proposes an order a person approves. The third watches the fridge: it reads the temperature logger every few minutes, around the clock.
When the temperature deviates, the robot does what the logger alone cannot: it knows which batches are in the fridge, who is on call today and how long the deviation lasted. It notifies the person on call by SMS and in Teams and flags the fridge batches as needing a decision. Whether the products can be used is decided by the doctor following the manufacturer’s guidance; the robot gives him the full temperature record and the batch list.
UiPath Orchestrator: the stock register, expiry and temperature alerts, order proposals and an audit trail; UiPath Integration Service connectors to Outlook 365, SharePoint and Teams
A stock register with batches and dates, usage deducted from treatments, use-first lists, schedule-based orders for approval and round-the-clock fridge monitoring with an on-call list
A Wi-Fi temperature logger via export or API; the clinic system with schedule and usage via export or API; wholesaler invoice files from an Outlook 365 mailbox; an SMS gateway on your own contract
How the automated process works
- AutomationThe delivery in the register with batch and expiry; the assistant confirms
- AutomationUsage deducted from treatments, stock current every day
- AutomationA use-first list and alerts before the expiry date
- PersonAn order proposal from the schedule; the owner approves in Teams
- AutomationThe fridge watched around the clock; an alert to the person on call
- PersonThe doctor decides on products after a deviation, with the full record
Human-in-the-loop model
Automation handles
- The stock register with batches and dates, usage deducted from treatments
- Use-first lists, date alerts and schedule-based order proposals
- Round-the-clock fridge readings, alerts to the on-call person and a record for the files
People decide
- Approving every order: the owner or someone she names
- Deciding on products after a temperature deviation: the doctor alone
- Confirming deliveries and the stocktake: the assistant
Before and after
Systems and integrations
The stack is short on purpose: one engine, one execution layer, one place where a person decides.
Inputs
- invoice files and delivery statements from the wholesaler
- usage from the batch register and treatment records
- the treatment schedule for the coming weeks
- readings from the fridge temperature logger
Automation layer
- UiPath Orchestrator
- UiPath Robots
- UiPath Integration Service
- UiPath Action Center
Target systems
- a stock register with batches, dates and today’s levels
- order proposals and use-first lists in Teams
- temperature alerts to on-call staff and a temperature record for the files
Human touchpoints: the assistant confirms deliveries and does a monthly stocktake; the owner approves orders; the on-call person responds to a fridge alert
Technologies used
the stock register, expiry and temperature alerts, order proposals, an audit trail
Aorder approvals, alerts, sending orders to the wholesaler
Aa stock register with batches and a quick stocktake from a phone
Afridge readings via export or API; hardware bought by the clinic
Bschedule and usage via export or API; deliveries from invoice files
BIllustrative economic model
Numbers you can check against your own data.
The model assumes purchases of about 20 000 € a month and the cautious assumption that expiry losses and postponed treatments both fall by three quarters. Fridge monitoring is left unpriced, although one saved weekend may be worth more than a whole year of the other lines. Put your own figures into the calculator beside.
Run the maths on your data
An illustrative estimate based on your inputs. It models freed capacity, not promised savings.
Business benefits
- Products used in order of expiry, less stock thrown away
- Orders from the treatment schedule, no treatment postponed for lack of product
- The fridge temperature watched around the clock, an alert within minutes, not on Monday
- Stock current every day, a stocktake in a quarter of an hour
- A full temperature and batch record for the doctor’s decision and for the files
The management view
- Stock stops being frozen cash: less just-in-case inventory, more product exactly on time
- A usage record per treatment is the basis for honest margins and fair doctor payouts
- Temperature and date records are documentation the clinic can show without preparation
Board-level KPIs
value of product thrown away after expiry · treatments postponed for lack of product · time from temperature deviation to response · difference between stocktake and register · orders approved without urgent mode
Security and governance
The automation has exactly the permissions it needs. Not one more.
- The stock register holds no patient data; usage links to treatments only via the visit number
- The robot proposes orders but orders nothing without a person’s approval
- The decision on products after a temperature deviation always belongs to the doctor; the robot flags batches and does not assess them
- The temperature record and every stock change have an audit trail: what, when, who
- Data stays in your Microsoft 365 tenant; the robots run in the EU region of UiPath Automation Cloud
Why now
Every pack that expires behind a newer delivery is money you have already spent.
A fridge failure gives no warning; monitoring has to be in place before the first one happens at a weekend.
A quick-win deployment takes weeks and works from the first delivery booked after go-live.
Relevant executive roles
Less product thrown away, orders approved with one click and calm weekends
The product is there when it should be, and after a fridge failure he decides on full data
No more counting with a spreadsheet or hunting for the box with the oldest date
Common questions and objections
The logger knows it is too warm. The robot also knows which batches are in the fridge, who is on call today, how long the deviation lasted and what the doctor needs to see. The logger’s alarm stays as a second line.
No. The robot prepares an order proposal from the schedule and stock and sends it only after the owner, or someone she names, approves it.
From the batch register created at treatments and from the records in the clinic system. Where usage varies, the pack actually recorded counts, and a monthly stocktake evens out the differences.
When this is not the right solution
- A clinic with a handful of product lines and little stock: a spreadsheet will do
- No record of usage at treatments at all: the batch register first, then the stock
- Expecting the robot to decide on products after a failure: that is the doctor’s decision
A question for the next management meeting
How many product packs did you throw away after expiry last year, and who would learn of a fridge failure on a Saturday night?
Implementation approach
Scope without ambiguity, before anything is signed.
We deliver
- A stock register with batches and expiry dates, fed by deliveries and treatment usage
- Use-first lists and date alerts in Teams
- Schedule-based order proposals with approval in Teams and dispatch to the wholesaler
- Round-the-clock fridge temperature monitoring with alerts to on-call staff and a record for the files
- A team handbook, an on-call list and two weeks of assistance after go-live
We need from you
- A Wi-Fi temperature logger in the fridge, if you do not have one yet
- Access to the schedule and usage records in the clinic system and to wholesaler invoices
- The on-call list and temperature ranges set by the clinic
Stages
Discovery
Product lines, deliveries, today’s spreadsheet, the fridge and on-call cover; half a day at the clinic
Register
An opening count with batches and dates, alert rules, order thresholds
Build
Deliveries, usage, date lists, orders, fridge monitoring
Parallel run
Two weeks alongside the spreadsheet; a fridge alarm test with the on-call person
Go-live
The register as the only source; a check count after a month
A quick win. The opening count with batches and dates takes the most work; after that the register keeps itself, and a check count takes a quarter of an hour.
Products used in order of expiry, ordered on time, and the fridge watched even at three on a Saturday morning. No spreadsheet.
Add up the value of product thrown away after expiry last year and count the treatments postponed for lack of stock. Send us both numbers with a word about your fridge; we will send back a product stock design and the arithmetic for your clinic.
Count how much product you throw awayThe neighbouring process usually has the same problem
The manufacturer issues a notice about a batch. Who received it? The answer sits in a hundred paper records.
See the solution Legal & complianceCompany deadlines watched: policies, inspections, check-upsThe autoclave, the extinguishers, the liability policy and staff check-ups expire in different calendars. Most of them, truthfully, in none.
See the solution Finance & accountingCost invoices to the accountant without the binderOn the fifth of the month the accountant asks about missing invoices. The hunt begins: inboxes, glove boxes, jacket pockets.
See the solutionIndustries where we deploy this most oftenAesthetic medicineSmall business & services