Pharma · 25 July 2026
How to Manage Carton, Box, Strip and Unit Medicine Stock
Manage medicine wholesale inventory across cartons, boxes, strips and units without losing count between purchase and sale.
Medicine packaging is nested: cartons contain boxes, boxes contain strips, strips contain tablets. Suppliers invoice in one pack size; pharmacies order in another. If your books only store one number without conversion rules, warehouse and sales disagree every afternoon.
Pick a base unit and convert up
Most distributors treat the smallest sellable unit (tablet, capsule, or bottle) as the stock unit, then define how many units sit in a strip, box, or carton. Purchases entered as boxes increase base units by boxes × units-per-box. Sales in pieces decrement the same pool. That matches how general wholesale box-and-unit inventory works — with medicine you also attach batch and expiry to the receipt.
Free / bonus quantities
Pharma deals often include free stock (“10+1”). Record free units into the same batch so physical count matches the system. Ignoring free goods understates inventory and confuses FEFO.
Software that combines both
Pharma distribution software in Pakistan should handle packaging conversions and batch/expiry together — not force you to choose one.
Selling boxes to shops
When you deliver full boxes, enter the sale in a way that deducts the correct base units (boxes × pack size). Displaying “10 boxes left” is helpful for packing; the ledger of truth remains base units so FEFO batches stay accurate. See also FEFO for medicine distributors.
Practical checklist
- Define units per strip / box / carton per SKU
- Purchase with batch, expiry, and free qty
- Sell in pieces or boxes with the same conversion
- Let FEFO choose the batch; override only when justified