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Expiry & FEFO Software for Indian Businesses: Earliest Expiry Out First, Short-Dated Stock Kept Back

For medical, food and FMCG distributors: ship the right batch, respect each customer's shelf-life clause, and catch near-expiry stock while it can still be sold.

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A picker choosing a medicine carton from a distribution shelf

Expiry & FEFO software answers a picker's simple question: which batch do I take? First expired, first out is the rule, but a picker handed a quantity and no reason will take the carton nearest the aisle.

Then a hospital rejects the delivery because the batch has less shelf life left than its contract allows, or an expired carton reaches a retailer, and the cost lands on the distributor.

This page covers where expiry losses come from, an illustrative example, and how Apragya decides the batch before anyone walks to the rack.

Where expiry losses come from

Rejected deliveries

Short-dated batches sent to customers with a shelf-life clause.

Write-offs

Stock expiring in one godown while another sells the same item fast.

Expired goods shipped

Nothing stops an expired carton at despatch.

Unexplained picks

Nobody can say later why a particular batch was sent.

An example: a Lucknow medical distributor

Take an illustrative distributor supplying chemists and two hospitals. One hospital's rate contract requires at least 70% of total shelf life remaining. An order for 500 strips of one tablet comes in, and the godown holds four batches.

What the allocator decided for 500 strips

  • Batch with long lifeChosen first; well above the hospital's clause.Ready
  • Batch near clauseBelow 70% remaining, so skipped for this customer.Mismatch
  • Damaged carton batchQuarantined, so never offered.Pending
  • Last month's batchExpired; it cannot leave the building.Overdue
  • Allocation recordChosen and skipped batches saved with reasons.Done
The skipped batches come with a reason, so the picker does not fill the gap with a guess.

The pick list carried only the long-life batch, and the note explained why three others were skipped. The short-dated batch stayed for chemist orders, where no clause applies, and the hospital accepted the delivery.

Four stacks of medicine boxes with green, yellow, orange and red markers
Only the green stack went to the hospital; the others were held back for good reasons.

How FEFO inventory management works in Apragya

Step 1 of 5

Policy per item

Choose FEFO, FIFO or manual batch selection for each item.

  1. Policy per item: Choose FEFO, FIFO or manual batch selection for each item.
  2. Shelf-life rules: Set minimum life as a percentage or days, for everyone, a customer group or one customer.
  3. Allocation with reasons: The chosen batches and every skipped batch are shown with the reason.
  4. Expired stock stopped: Outbound paths refuse expired stock once enforcement is on.
  5. Early alerts: Batches within 30 days of expiry are flagged, with a weekly reminder.

Choosing expiry management software in India

Sorting a batch list by date is easy. The hard part is excluding what must not go to this customer, stopping what must not go at all, and explaining the choice. That is what keeps rejected deliveries and write-offs down.

Manual batch picking, against Apragya

FeaturePicker's choiceApragya
Batch orderNearest cartonEarliest expiry, or your policy
Customer clausesRemembered by salesRules by customer or group
Expired stockChecked by eyeRefused at despatch
Skipped batchesUnexplainedListed with reasons
Near expiryFound at stock takeAlerts and suggestions

Checked against public information on 16 September 2026.

What sets Apragya's expiry handling apart

Write-off avoidance agent

Suggests an action for at-risk batches, such as moving them where they sell faster.

Facts before judgement

Cover days and value at risk are computed exactly; the AI explains the call.

One record

Sales, stock and purchase share the same batch dates.

Gradual switch-on

Enforcement can run off, warn or block while you adjust.

Human decision

Suggestions land on a screen for a person to act on.

Audit trail

Overrides are recorded with the user and reason.

Getting started

  1. Record expiry dates for every batch-tracked item.
  2. Set FEFO as the policy for perishable items.
  3. Enter the shelf-life clauses from your customer contracts.
  4. Run enforcement in warn mode for a few weeks.
  5. Switch to block once the warnings make sense.

Warn mode shows which orders would have been refused, before anyone is actually refused.

What it costs to start

INR 3,999
Starter, a month
Up to 10 users, CRM and HR plus Inventory and Warehousing
2,000
AI Credits
Included on Starter
Free
Up to 3 users
CRM, HR and One Additional App of Your Choice.

Expiry and FEFO, answered

What if a contract gives both a percentage and a number of days?
Both are checked and the stricter one applies.
Can a rule warn instead of block?
Yes. Each shelf-life rule can block or warn, and overall enforcement can be off, warn or block.
Does the agent move stock on its own?
No. It writes a recommendation with a reason; a person decides.
Does FIFO still check expiry?
Yes. Under FIFO the oldest receipt goes first, but expired and short-dated batches are still excluded.
Where does expired stock go?
It can be moved to a quarantine warehouse, whose stock is never allocated.
What does it cost to start?
Inventory and Warehousing is available from the Starter plan, INR 3,999 a month for up to 10 users, which includes CRM and HR plus a choice of enterprise apps and 2,000 AI Credits. Pro, at INR 7,999 a month, covers 25 users and every enterprise app.

Ship the right batch every time

Set FEFO on your perishable items and enter one customer's shelf-life clause.

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