---
title: How do I Manage Equipment & Consumable Inventory?
description: Learn about the Inventory Table with enhanced tracking for Consumable and Equipment records. Discover how to manage unique IDs, metadata, statuses, automated updates for consumables, and assign Departments and Locations for better lab organization.
---

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# How do I Manage Equipment & Consumable Inventory?

## Our Inventory Management feature allows you to manage Consumable and Equipment records with unique IDs and detailed information. Labs can now track item statuses, location, important dates, and more!

**In This Article**

- [Overview](https://help.confidentlims.com/how-do-i-manage-equipment-consumable-inventory#overview)
- [Setting Up Departments and Locations](https://help.confidentlims.com/how-do-i-manage-equipment-consumable-inventory#dept)
- [Creating a Consumable](https://help.confidentlims.com/how-do-i-manage-equipment-consumable-inventory#consumable)
- [Creating a Piece of Equipment](https://help.confidentlims.com/how-do-i-manage-equipment-consumable-inventory#equipment)
- [Inventory Statuses](https://help.confidentlims.com/how-do-i-manage-equipment-consumable-inventory#statuses)
- [Logging Important Dates](https://help.confidentlims.com/how-do-i-manage-equipment-consumable-inventory#dates)
- [Consumable and Equipment Logs](https://help.confidentlims.com/how-do-i-manage-equipment-consumable-inventory#logs)
- [Managing Files Associated with a Consumable or piece of Equipment](https://help.confidentlims.com/how-do-i-manage-equipment-consumable-inventory#files)
- [Pro Tips](https://help.confidentlims.com/how-do-i-manage-equipment-consumable-inventory#tips)<https://help.confidentlims.com/how-do-i-manage-equipment-consumable-inventory#video>

### **Overview**

With the **Inventory Management** feature, **Pro and Premium Labs** can manage lab equipment and consumables right inside Confident LIMS with full traceability and audit logs.

- Create equipment and consumable records with unique IDs
- Track statuses (Stock, Active, Retired / In Service, Out of Service)
- Store certificates, COAs, and documentation with each item
- Maintain automatic audit logs for every change
- Set up departments and locations to organize your inventory
- Log maintenance dates, calibration schedules, and expiration dates
- Filter, sort, and manage everything from powerful table views

**![](https://help.confidentlims.com/hs-fs/hubfs/image-png-Nov-13-2025-08-43-57-0175-PM.png?width=586&height=262&name=image-png-Nov-13-2025-08-43-57-0175-PM.png)**

 

### **Setting Up Departments and Locations**

1. **Departments** and **Locations** must be set up in order to associate Inventory items with a **Department** and **Location**.
2. To configure Departments and Locations for Inventory, first navigate to **Settings -\> Laboratory -\> General**. Scroll down to see **Departments** and **Locations**.  
   ![](https://help.confidentlims.com/hs-fs/hubfs/image-png-Nov-13-2025-08-21-55-6660-PM.png?width=670&height=178&name=image-png-Nov-13-2025-08-21-55-6660-PM.png)
3. Select **New** to create a new **Department** or **Location**  
   ![](https://help.confidentlims.com/hs-fs/hubfs/image-png-Nov-13-2025-08-25-12-3203-PM.png?width=520&height=299&name=image-png-Nov-13-2025-08-25-12-3203-PM.png)
4. Enter the relevant information for the **Department** or **Location** you are creating and select **Save**. 
5. When creating new Inventory items, configured **Departments** and **Locations** will be displayed in the drop down menu for selection.  
   ![](https://help.confidentlims.com/hs-fs/hubfs/image-png-Nov-13-2025-08-29-08-5926-PM.png?width=433&height=377&name=image-png-Nov-13-2025-08-29-08-5926-PM.png)
6. **Departments** and **Locations** can be edited or deleted under **Actions** in the table.  
   ![](https://help.confidentlims.com/hs-fs/hubfs/image-png-Nov-13-2025-08-26-37-2612-PM.png?width=670&height=302&name=image-png-Nov-13-2025-08-26-37-2612-PM.png)

 

### **Creating a Consumable**

1. Navigate to **Inventory -\> Consumables**.
2. In the top right, select **Create**.  
   ![](https://help.confidentlims.com/hs-fs/hubfs/image-png-Nov-14-2025-11-05-19-3491-PM.png?width=670&height=152&name=image-png-Nov-14-2025-11-05-19-3491-PM.png)
3. Fill out all of the relevant information for the Consumable being created and select **Create**.
4. You will now see the new inventory item in the list of Consumables with a unique ID generated by Confident.
   
   **Note**: custom IDs can be created for inventory items by designating an ID in the **Custom ID** field. Custom IDs are displayed in a column on the Inventory Table.  
   ![](https://help.confidentlims.com/hs-fs/hubfs/image-png-Nov-14-2025-11-08-51-8742-PM.png?width=459&height=209&name=image-png-Nov-14-2025-11-08-51-8742-PM.png)
5. To create a Consumable from an existing item, find the Consumable you would like to recreate and select the icon next to the Consumable ID.
   
   Select **Create from Existing** and continue to create the Consumable as described above.  
   **![](https://help.confidentlims.com/hs-fs/hubfs/image-png-Nov-14-2025-11-12-03-2417-PM.png?width=670&height=314&name=image-png-Nov-14-2025-11-12-03-2417-PM.png)**

### **Creating a Piece of Equipment**

1. Navigate to **Inventory -\> Equipment**.
2. In the top right, select **Create**.  
   ![](https://help.confidentlims.com/hs-fs/hubfs/image-png-Nov-14-2025-11-03-59-3740-PM.png?width=670&height=134&name=image-png-Nov-14-2025-11-03-59-3740-PM.png)
3. Fill out all of the relevant information for the Equipment being created and select **Create**.
4. You will now see the new inventory item in the list of Equipment with a unique ID generated by Confident.
   
   **Note**: custom IDs can be created for inventory items by designating an ID in the **Custom ID** field. Custom IDs are displayed in a column on the Inventory Table.
   
   ![](https://help.confidentlims.com/hs-fs/hubfs/image-png-Nov-14-2025-11-08-46-9263-PM.png?width=433&height=197&name=image-png-Nov-14-2025-11-08-46-9263-PM.png)
5. To create a piece of Equipment from an existing item, find the Equipment you would like to recreate and select the icon next to the Equipment ID.
   
   Select **Create from Existing** and continue to create the Equipment as described above.  
   ![](https://help.confidentlims.com/hs-fs/hubfs/image-png-Nov-14-2025-11-19-12-8410-PM.png?width=625&height=315&name=image-png-Nov-14-2025-11-19-12-8410-PM.png)

### **Inventory Statuses**

1. To update the status of an inventory item, find or search for the item and select the status icon. You can then select the desired status in the drop down.
2. The selected status will then be reflected in the **Status** column.

![](https://help.confidentlims.com/hs-fs/hubfs/image-png-Nov-14-2025-11-22-58-5634-PM.png?width=335&height=273&name=image-png-Nov-14-2025-11-22-58-5634-PM.png)

![](https://help.confidentlims.com/hs-fs/hubfs/image-png-Nov-17-2025-04-51-08-9005-PM.png?width=670&height=256&name=image-png-Nov-17-2025-04-51-08-9005-PM.png)

Statuses can also be updated in the inventory item's page by selecting the status in the top right.

![](https://help.confidentlims.com/hs-fs/hubfs/image-png-Nov-19-2025-03-31-18-5787-PM.png?width=670&height=191&name=image-png-Nov-19-2025-03-31-18-5787-PM.png)

 

### **Logging Important Dates**

Important dates, such as expiration for consumables and maintenance due dates for equipment can be logged both when creating a piece of inventory or within the inventory tables.

1. To log important dates for a piece of inventory, fill out applicable date fields when creating the consumable or piece of equipment.  
   ![](https://help.confidentlims.com/hs-fs/hubfs/image-png-Nov-17-2025-04-55-33-8360-PM.png?width=453&height=527&name=image-png-Nov-17-2025-04-55-33-8360-PM.png)
2. To edit dates, either select the **Date icon** within the table to update the date, or edit the inventory in the inventory item's page.
   
   To edit a date from within the table:  
   ![](https://help.confidentlims.com/hs-fs/hubfs/image-png-Nov-17-2025-04-58-41-4206-PM.png?width=670&height=138&name=image-png-Nov-17-2025-04-58-41-4206-PM.png)  
   To edit a date using the table **Edit** action:  
   ![](https://help.confidentlims.com/hs-fs/hubfs/image-png-Nov-17-2025-04-59-24-0942-PM.png?width=408&height=263&name=image-png-Nov-17-2025-04-59-24-0942-PM.png)  
   Alternatively, you can select an inventory item in the table to navigate to the item's page. Once in the inventory item's page, either select **Edit** or the pencil icon next to the date you'd like to update.  
   ![](https://help.confidentlims.com/hs-fs/hubfs/image-png-Nov-17-2025-05-01-18-3444-PM.png?width=670&height=269&name=image-png-Nov-17-2025-05-01-18-3444-PM.png)![](https://help.confidentlims.com/hs-fs/hubfs/image-png-Nov-17-2025-05-08-14-9769-PM.png?width=307&height=345&name=image-png-Nov-17-2025-05-08-14-9769-PM.png)

### **Consumable and Equipment Logs**

1. To view or edit a consumable or piece of equipment's log, first find the desired item and select the item.  
   ![](https://help.confidentlims.com/hs-fs/hubfs/image-png-Nov-17-2025-05-20-33-5601-PM.png?width=480&height=321&name=image-png-Nov-17-2025-05-20-33-5601-PM.png)
2. Navigate to the **Logs** tab to view logs for the inventory item.  
   ![](https://help.confidentlims.com/hs-fs/hubfs/image-png-Nov-17-2025-05-23-49-0328-PM.png?width=670&height=230&name=image-png-Nov-17-2025-05-23-49-0328-PM.png)
3. To add a log message, write the message you'd like to log for the item and select **Add**. The message will then appear in the logs with the name of the person who created the message, as well as the date and time in which it was logged.  
   ![](https://help.confidentlims.com/hs-fs/hubfs/image-png-Nov-19-2025-03-45-29-5075-PM.png?width=670&height=674&name=image-png-Nov-19-2025-03-45-29-5075-PM.png)
4. Inventory logs can be exported to a .csv using the **Export** button.  
   ![](https://help.confidentlims.com/hs-fs/hubfs/image-png-Nov-17-2025-05-24-51-5428-PM.png?width=670&height=239&name=image-png-Nov-17-2025-05-24-51-5428-PM.png)

### **Managing Files Associated with a Consumable or piece of Equipment**

1. To view or manage files associated with a consumable or piece of equipment, first find the desired item and select the item.  
   ![](https://help.confidentlims.com/hs-fs/hubfs/image-png-Nov-17-2025-05-20-33-5601-PM.png?width=480&height=321&name=image-png-Nov-17-2025-05-20-33-5601-PM.png)
2. Navigate to **Files** to see all of the files uploaded for an inventory item. You can view the file uploaded for an item by selecting the file name. This will open the file in a new window.
3. To upload a new file, select **Upload** and upload the file to the desired item. Note that only PDF files can be uploaded at this time. 
4. You will then see the new uploaded file in the **Files** tab.
   
   ![](https://help.confidentlims.com/hs-fs/hubfs/image-png-Nov-17-2025-08-10-08-7184-PM.png?width=670&height=276&name=image-png-Nov-17-2025-08-10-08-7184-PM.png)
5. To archive a file, select the three dots next to the file you'd like to archive and select **Archive**.    
   ![](https://help.confidentlims.com/hs-fs/hubfs/image-png-Nov-17-2025-08-13-03-4682-PM.png?width=670&height=454&name=image-png-Nov-17-2025-08-13-03-4682-PM.png)

### **Pro Tips**

#### **Filters**

Various filters can be applied to Consumable and Equipment tables by selecting the **Filter** icon in the top left of a table.

![](https://help.confidentlims.com/hs-fs/hubfs/image-png-Nov-19-2025-03-54-17-6314-PM.png?width=670&height=173&name=image-png-Nov-19-2025-03-54-17-6314-PM.png)

**![](https://help.confidentlims.com/hs-fs/hubfs/image-png-Nov-19-2025-03-53-00-0343-PM.png?width=670&height=460&name=image-png-Nov-19-2025-03-53-00-0343-PM.png)**

#### **Customizing the Table View**

The table view can be customized by selecting **View** in the top right. Table columns can also be organized based on your preference by dragging column headers in the table. To reset the table view, select **Reset Table** in the **View** drop down.

![](https://help.confidentlims.com/hs-fs/hubfs/image-png-Nov-19-2025-03-55-57-7092-PM.png?width=460&height=518&name=image-png-Nov-19-2025-03-55-57-7092-PM.png)

#### **Reorder Hyperlinks**

If a Reorder Url is added for an item, you can click directly into the Url that was added to take you to the website.

![](https://help.confidentlims.com/hs-fs/hubfs/image-png-Nov-19-2025-04-06-30-7120-PM.png?width=432&height=211&name=image-png-Nov-19-2025-04-06-30-7120-PM.png)

#### **Bulk Importing Inventory Items**

Select the **Import **button in the top right to bulk import inventory items. A template can be accessed in the window that appears to use for bulk importing.

![](https://help.confidentlims.com/hs-fs/hubfs/image-png-Jan-22-2026-07-27-38-8974-PM.png?width=335&height=198&name=image-png-Jan-22-2026-07-27-38-8974-PM.png)

![](https://help.confidentlims.com/hs-fs/hubfs/image-png-Jan-22-2026-07-28-20-7641-PM.png?width=370&height=421&name=image-png-Jan-22-2026-07-28-20-7641-PM.png)

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