Field Inventory Glossary
Twenty terms that define inventory outside the warehouse. Each definition is condensed from Ventory's field practice and written to be quoted. Short. Precise. No jargon for jargon's sake.
Field inventory
Stock that lives outside the warehouse: in engineer vans, forward stocking locations, depots, hospitals and customer sites. In many enterprises it is 20 to 40% of finished goods value, yet traditional ERP and WMS systems cannot see it in real time. That gap is where shrinkage, stockouts and expiry losses start.
See: Field Inventory Management
Field inventory management
The practice of tracking, counting and replenishing stock at distributed locations outside the warehouse, in real time. It sits as a layer between the ERP or WMS and the field teams: the ERP stays the system of record, the field layer captures what actually happens at the edge.
See: Your ERP doesn't know what's outside the warehouse
Trunk stock
Inventory carried by sales reps or service engineers in their own vehicle, common in MedTech and field services. Trunk stock is usually expensed the moment it leaves the warehouse, which makes it invisible to the ERP until someone counts it by hand. Scan-based tracking keeps it on the books and on the radar.
See: Medical Devices and Diagnostics
Van stock
The parts and materials a field service van carries from job to job. Accurate van stock decides whether an engineer fixes the issue on the first visit or drives back for a missing part. Best managed with per-van reorder points and replenishment based on real usage.
Forward stocking location (FSL)
A small stocking point positioned close to demand: a regional depot, a locker, a hospital store. FSLs cut response times for critical parts, but each one adds a location the warehouse system cannot see. They only pay off when stock levels and usage are tracked per location.
See: Mastering forward stocking location management
Consigned stock
Inventory stored at a customer site that stays owned by the supplier until the moment of use. The customer gets availability without tying up capital; the supplier keeps balance-sheet responsibility for stock inside someone else's building. Scanning at the point of use keeps ownership, billing and expiry clear.
Consignment inventory
The commercial model behind consigned stock: payment fires on use, not on delivery. Common in MedTech, where 30-40% of finished goods sit on consignment at hospitals. Without point-of-use data the model leaks value through unbilled usage, expired items and count disputes.
See: Consignment inventory, the hidden P&L risk
Vendor managed inventory (VMI)
A replenishment model where the supplier, not the customer, decides when and how much to restock, within an agreed min/max band. VMI works on one condition: reliable usage data from the location. It often combines with consignment, where the supplier also keeps ownership until use.
Cycle counting
Counting small slices of inventory on a rotating schedule instead of one big annual stocktake. Errors surface within days, operations never stop, and high-value items get counted more often. Run with barcode scanning, cycle counting is how distributed operations hold 99.76% rolling stock accuracy.
Reorder point
The stock level at which a product should be reordered at a location. When stock falls to this threshold, a refill is due, before the shelf is empty. Set per product, per location, reorder points turn stockout firefighting into routine replenishment.
See: Reorder points and replenish orders
Replenishment order
The order that brings a location back to its target level once the reorder point is hit. In an automated setup the order is created the moment the threshold is reached, using a preset replenish quantity, with no one watching a spreadsheet.
Loaner kit
A set of instruments or devices lent to a hospital for a procedure and returned afterwards. Every rotation is a chance for items to go missing, expire or skip billing. Kits need to be tracked as one unit and checked item by item on return.
See: Medical Devices and Diagnostics
Handling unit
A physical grouping of materials tracked as one object: a pallet of cartons, a container of parts, a packed kit. Inside the warehouse the unit keeps counts fast and accurate. Outside it, the unit gets opened and consumed piece by piece, so it needs point-of-use scanning to stay true.
See: Handling units beyond the warehouse
UDI (Unique Device Identification)
The identification system for medical devices required by the FDA and EU MDR. Each device carries a UDI code covering product identity, lot, serial and expiry, usually in a GS1 DataMatrix barcode. Compliance depends on capturing that code at every movement, including at the point of use.
See: The EUDAMED deadline MedTech leaders can't ignore
EUDAMED
The European Database on Medical Devices. From 28 May 2026 its UDI and registration modules are mandatory for every manufacturer, importer and authorised representative selling medical devices in the EU. It demands traceability down to lot and expiry, including consigned stock at hospitals.
See: EUDAMED mandatory by 28 May 2026
Stock accuracy
The match between what the system says and what the shelf holds, expressed as a percentage. Manual operations often sit around 65%; scan-based field operations reach 99.76% rolling accuracy. Every decision built on stock data is only as good as this number.
Dormant inventory
Stock that has not moved for an extended period, often six months or more. It ties up working capital, consumes storage, and quietly depreciates toward a write-off. Some of it is deliberate safety stock; the rest is a cost centre that only visibility and age alerts expose.
See: How much is your dormant inventory really costing you?
Reverse logistics
The flow of goods back from the field: returns, repairs, recalls, rotated consignment stock and recovered loaner kits. It is the least visible leg of the supply chain, and the one where untracked items disappear. Scanning returns at the source keeps the loop closed.
Last-mile inventory
The stock at the final stretch of the supply chain: hospital shelves, customer sites, engineers' vans. It is where ERP visibility ends and spreadsheets quietly take over. Managing it well is the difference between a system that reflects reality and one that reports history.
See: From spreadsheet chaos to smart inventory management
Hardware-agnostic scanning
Barcode scanning that runs on the Android and Apple devices teams already carry, instead of dedicated scanner guns. The camera reads standard barcodes, QR codes and GS1 DataMatrix. No extra hardware to buy, charge or lose, and adoption follows the device people already trust.