Batch records, expiry and stockist orders for ayurvedic medicines

Ayurvedic, Siddha and Unani medicines are made under a manufacturing licence in Form 25-D under the Drugs and Cosmetics Rules, 1945. Rule 161 sets what the label must carry, including the name of the medicine, the net content, the manufacturer's name and address, the manufacturing licence number, a distinctive batch number, the date of manufacture and the words Ayurvedic medicine, along with the list of ingredients and their quantities.

The batch number is defined as the number by which the details of manufacture of that batch are recorded and available for inspection. Rule 161B requires the expiry date on the label, sets a shelf life from the date of manufacture for each group of medicines, and says expired medicines must not be in circulation. The rules are amended from time to time, so check the current text with your licensing authority.

In managemate, the batch number is the finished lot of a production run, with its expiry date and the herb lots it used. The completed run's date is on its record and production sheet, but there is no separate manufacturing date field, so many makers build the date into the batch number. Labels from managemate do not print dates or the licence number.

Rule 157A asks every licensed ayurvedic, Siddha or Unani manufacturing unit to keep a record of the raw materials it used in the previous financial year, in the format of Schedule TA, and to submit it by 30 June to the State Drug Licensing Authority and the National Medicinal Plants Board. Schedule TA asks for each herb's quantity used in kilograms, its sources, such as traders, cultivators or forest collectors, and the part used.

managemate holds the pieces of that record. Each herb is a product counted in kilograms, every purchase receipt records the supplier and lot, and every completed run records which herb lots it used and how much. The stock ledger, filtered to production, lists every use.

It does not total a year's use or fill in Schedule TA, so plan to prepare the return from these records. Two habits make that easier: name each herb product with the part used, such as Ashwagandha root or Amalaki fruit, and note in each supplier's record whether they are a trader, cultivator or collector.

Dried herbs are often bought in season from traders and mandis, in cash or on short credit, and held for months, while finished medicines go to stockists, ayurvedic chemists, practitioners and Panchakarma centres on credit. Money is tied up in raw herbs long before a batch is sold.

Each purchase in managemate adds herbs at their landed cost, including freight. A run takes herb lots earliest expiry first and puts the finished batch into stock at the cost of what it actually used, so the cost per bottle or jar follows herb prices. Stockists in other states are invoiced with IGST because the ship-to state differs, and their due dates follow their terms.

Near-expiry stock often comes back from stockists. Record the return against the original invoice, so the batch goes back into its lot and a credit note reduces the balance, then write it off with the reason Expired if it cannot be sold. Each customer's statement shows open invoices with ageing for the monthly follow-up.

Decide your batch number pattern first. A completed run's lot takes the run number unless you type another, and Settings lets you set the prefix and next number for production orders, so the default can match the batch numbers on your labels. If you print lot labels while a batch is being made, keep that number, because labels printed earlier will not scan under a different lot.

Add herbs, oils, ghee, jaggery and packaging as products, each with its stock unit and buying pack, plus a usage pack in grams where a formula needs it. Write each formula for your standard batch size, with the method in the instructions so it prints on the production sheet.

In the first week, import opening stock with lot numbers, expiry dates and cost, give the production supervisor the Production role and make one batch end to end. Check that its production sheet, batch number and labels read the way your quality team expects before moving every formula across.