Chonnam Med J.  1998 Dec;34(2):143-148.

Inventory Management of Laboratory Test Reagents

• So BJ
• Shin MG
• Suh SP
• Ryang DW

Abstract

BACKGROUND
Efficient, cost-effective clinical laboratory operations require the careful management of reagents and supplies. Clinical laboratory must have on hand an adequate quantity of test reagents in the aspect of quality control and costs. The purpose of this study was to access the efficient inventory management of laboratory test reagents. METHOD: We used economic ordering quantity (EOQ), economic ordering point (EOP) and optimal reorder time (ROT) techniques to obtain cost-effective ordering quantity and efficient inventory control of nine laboratory test reagents (ALP, AST, ALT, BUN, creatinine, total cholesterol, triglyceride, HBsAg and anti-HBs) in Kwangju Armed Force Hospital (Kwangju, Korea).
RESULTS
EOQ, EOP and ROT were 6.6 BT(bottle, 20ml)/order, 4.2 BT and 22.1 days-order in ALP, respectively; 6.9 BT/order, 4.6 BT and 20.9 days/order in AST and ALT; 5.6 BT/order, 3.1 BT and 25.6 days/order in BUN and creatinine; 4.6 BT/order, 2.1 BT and 31.1 days/order in total cholesterol; 6.6 BT/order, 4.2 BT and 22.1 days/order in triglyceride. EOQ, EOP and ROT of HBsAg and anti-HBs were 3.7 box(96T)/order, 1.3 box, 38.6 days/order, and 3.5 box (96T)/order, 1.1 box, 42.6 days/order, respectively. Following the above guideline, the appropriate inventory of ALP, AST, ALT, BUN, creatinine, total cholesterol, triglyceride, HBsAg and anti-HBs was 4.2 BT, 4.6 BT, 3.1 BT, 2.1 BT, 4.2 BT, 1.3 box and 1.1 box, respectively. Optimal ordering quantity/frequency of ALP, AST, ALT, HBsAg and anti-HBs was 6.6 BT/22.1 days, 6.9 BT/20.9 days, 6.9 BT/20.9 days, 3.7 boxes/38.6 days and 3.5 boxes/42.6 days, respectively.
CONCLUSIONS
Efficient ordering quantity, frequency of order and appropriate inventory in nine laboratory test reagents were determined by using EOQ, EOP and ROT at Kwangju Armed Force Hospital. This study revealed that these methods provided cost-effective laboratory tests by appropriate control of test reagents.

Keyword

laboratory test reagents; inventory management

MeSH Terms

Arm
Cholesterol
Creatinine
Equipment and Supplies
Gwangju
Hand
Hepatitis B Surface Antigens
Indicators and Reagents*
Quality Control
Triglycerides
Cholesterol
Creatinine
Hepatitis B Surface Antigens
Indicators and Reagents