Stock Rotation

Stock rotation — commonly implemented as first-expired-first-out (FEFO) or first-in-first-out (FIFO) — ensures that disinfectants, cleaning chemicals and other date-sensitive products are used in the order they will expire. It is a fundamental warehousing and inventory-management discipline in any operation that stores consumables.

Without disciplined stock rotation, older disinfectant stock can sit unused until its available chlorine has degraded, leading to weakened working solutions and potential compliance failures. It also causes avoidable waste when expired stock must be discarded.

Applied in hospital central stores, food manufacturing warehouses, distributor depots and multi-site facilities. Supported by clear date labelling, organised shelving, and periodic expiry audits.