Research Management - Product Inventory - Basic

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Item ID	Product Name	Category	Quantity	Location	Date Added Status

Research Management - Product Inventory (Basic) Excel Template

This Excel template is specifically designed for Research Management teams operating in academic, corporate R&D, or pharmaceutical environments who need a simple yet effective system to track physical and digital products generated during research projects. The template combines the core principles of Product Inventory tracking with a streamlined, minimalistic approach suitable for small to medium-sized labs or research groups using the Basic version. It provides structure without complexity, enabling researchers and lab managers to monitor inventory levels, assign products to projects, track usage dates, and maintain compliance records—all within a single Excel workbook.

Sheet Names

The template contains three distinct sheets:

Inventory Log: The central table where all physical and digital research products are recorded.
Project Assignments: Links inventory items to specific research projects, including PI names and project codes.
Dashboard (Basic): A visual summary sheet with charts and KPIs to monitor overall inventory health.

Table Structures & Columns

Inventory Log Table:

Dropdown: Reagent, Equipment, Software, Biological Sample, Data Set

Date the product was received into inventory.

For traceability, especially critical for biologicals or chemicals.

Total units received. Can be tubes, kits, licenses, etc.

e.g., “tubes”, “kits”, “licenses”, “GB”

e.g., “-20°C Fridge 3B”, “Cloud Server S3-Bucket-RD”

Automatically updated when any field is modified.

Column Name	Data Type	Description
Item ID	Text (Auto-generated)	Unique identifier in format: PRJ-001, PRJ-002, etc.
Product Name	Text	Name of the research product (e.g., “CRISPR Cas9 Plasmid Kit v2”)
Category
Supplier	Text	Name of vendor or internal source (e.g., “Thermo Fisher”, “Internal Synthesis Lab”)
Date Received	Date (DD/MM/YYYY)
Batch/Lot Number	Text
Quantity	Number (Integer)
Unit of Measure	Text
Storage Location	Text
Status	Dropdown: Active, Expired, Used Up, Lost, On Loan
Last Updated	Date (Auto-filled)

Project Assignments Table:

Links to the specific product being assigned.

e.g., “NEURO-2024-A”, “DNA-Seq-Pilot”

Name of lead researcher.

Date the item was assigned to the project.

The number of units allocated from inventory.

Column Name	Data Type	Description
Assignment ID	Text (Auto-generated)	ID in format: ASSG-001, etc.
Item ID	Dropdown (from Inventory Log)
Project Code	Text
Principal Investigator (PI)	Text
Assigned Date	Date (DD/MM/YYYY)
Quantity Assigned	Number (Integer)
Status Dropdown: Assigned, Partially Used, Fully Used, Returned

Formulas Required

In Inventory Log!Last Updated: =TODAY() (used with Data Validation and VBA trigger if needed; otherwise manual entry is acceptable for Basic version).
In Inventory Log!Item ID: Auto-increment formula using ROW() function offset by header row, e.g., =”PRJ-“&TEXT(ROW()-1,”000”) (applied from row 2 downward).
In Dashboard!Total Active Items: =COUNTIFS(InventoryLog!Status,"Active")
In Dashboard!Total Expired Items: =COUNTIFS(InventoryLog!Status,"Expired")
In Dashboard!Average Inventory Age (Days): =AVERAGEIF(InventoryLog!Status,"Active",TODAY()-InventoryLog!Date Received)
In Project Assignments!Remaining Quantity: =VLOOKUP([Item ID],InventoryLog,7,FALSE)-SUMIFS(ProjectAssignments!Quantity Assigned,ProjectAssignments!Item ID,[Item ID])

Conditional Formatting

Status = Expired: Red fill (RGB: 255,199,206)
Status = On Loan or Used Up: Yellow fill (RGB: 255,248,174)
Date Received older than 365 days: Light orange highlight for aging inventory
Quantity Assigned > Quantity Available: Red text with warning icon in Project Assignments sheet (manual check recommended in Basic version).

Instructions for the User

How to Use:

Start by entering all existing inventory items into the Inventory Log. Use dropdowns for Category and Status.
When a product is assigned to a research project, go to the Project Assignments sheet and select the Item ID from the dropdown list. Enter PI name, Project Code, and quantity assigned.
Update the Status in Inventory Log when items are used up or expired (e.g., “Used Up” or “Expired”).
Check the Dashboard weekly to monitor trends—especially for expiring reagents or over-allocated software licenses.
Do not delete rows. Use filtering to hide inactive items. Backup this file monthly.

Example Rows

Inventory Log Example Row:
Item ID: PRJ-045 \| Product Name: CRISPR gRNA Kit v3.1 \| Category: Reagent \| Supplier: Synthego \| Date Received: 05/12/2024 \| Batch #: GRNA-789XYZ \| Quantity: 10 \| Unit of Measure: kits \| Storage Location: -80°C Freezer A2
Project Assignments Example Row:
Assignment ID: ASSG-023 \| Item ID: PRJ-045 \| Project Code: CRISPR-MUT-A \| PI: Dr. Elena Torres \| Assigned Date: 10/12/2024 \| Quantity Assigned: 5 \| Status: Partially Used

Recommended Charts or Dashboards

The Dashboard (Basic) sheet includes:

A pie chart showing percentage of inventory by Category (Reagents, Equipment, etc.).
A bar chart comparing “Active” vs. “Expired” items.
A simple table listing top 5 most frequently assigned products.

This Basic template ensures researchers maintain accountability for expensive or time-sensitive materials while minimizing administrative burden. It is not intended for enterprise-scale inventory control but offers a robust foundation for academic labs, startups, or early-stage research teams requiring traceability without complex software.

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