Introduction

The terminology found in this document is put forth with the intention to simplify and build useful community consensus when discussing products, and how those products are identified, in global health supply chains.  Global health supply chains appear to be in the process of adopting more standardized supply chain terminology in addition to a rich history of legacy terminology, that’s been in use in practice for sometime across various locations and organizations.  This document will attempt to best capture, define and differentiate the most common and useful of these terms as is practical. This should be considered a living document with revisions made as needed.

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A lot/batch differentiates where and when a particular commodity was made. A lot captures a certain number of products that were produced at a point in time at a location. A lot is captured as a number that is specific to the brand owner. Often times, the lot is associated with an expiration date. Lots and batches are synonymous.

Kit

Related:  Commodity, Item

A Kit is a Product - it's an item that is defined once, and moves through the supply chain.  It's not a part of the supply chain that moves items through the supply chain.

Master Data

Master data in this context refers to a single source of product data which is unique and fundamental to the procurement/resupply of Products for healthcare.  For global health products master data typically refers to concepts such as unit of measurement, strength, route of administration, etc. Since health supply chains are global in nature, master data is data which comes from our suppliers/manufacturers/brand owners of those we get our Items from.

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