Raw Material Inventory Management for Perfumers
Keep your raw material stock accurate and up-to-date. ScentLabs tracks every ingredient from the moment you receive it to the moment it goes into a batch — so you never run out unexpectedly.
Start for freeGrams on the shelf, not a second spreadsheet
Raw-material stock is the constraint on what you can compound this week. A formula can be perfect and still be unmakeable because the hedione bottle is empty or the patchouli lot you recorded is the one you finished in March. Inventory in ScentLabs is a gram balance per material, tied to the same record the formula uses for cost and dilution. You are not keeping a second list of names that almost match the names in the formula.
Set the quantity you have on hand when you add a material, and lower it when you use some outside a logged batch. A low-stock threshold is a number you choose: the amount below which you want a warning before you accept a new brief. The warning is only useful if the balance is honest, so the deduction that matters most is the one that happens when you record a batch. The grams leave the material, the batch stores what it consumed, and the next formula you open already knows the bottle is lighter.
Dilutions need the same discipline as neat oils. If you keep both a neat absolute and a ten percent dilution, they are two materials with two balances. Using the dilution in a formula must reduce the dilution's stock, not the neat oil's, unless you are the one who made the dilution and you record that transfer yourself. Lots matter when a natural varies. A new purchase can be a note on the material, with its own price, without inventing a new formula name for every drum.
The usage history is how you answer a simple question: where did the last fifty grams go? Open the material and read the batches. That is also how you catch a typing error, when a batch claims a quantity you could not have weighed. Stock you do not trust is worse than no stock figure, because you will plan a production day around it. Correct the balance when you weigh the bottle, and treat that correction as part of the record rather than a failure of the software.
Inventory does not try to be a full warehouse for finished bottles, caps, and cartons. It tracks the materials that enter a formula, which is the part perfumers lose first when they move from a notebook to several concurrent briefs. Pair it with batch production: the formula says what one hundred percent of the concentrate contains, the batch says how many grams you made, and the material balance says what is left for tomorrow. Check the short list of low materials before you promise a date. Buying a missing line the day you intended to pour is how small studios miss a week.
What you can do
- Track stock levels for every raw material
- Automatic stock deduction after batch production
- Low-stock alerts and reorder reminders
- Full usage history per material
- Supplier and cost tracking per ingredient
- Material categories for easy navigation
Common questions
How does stock deduction work?
When you log a production batch in ScentLabs, you can choose to automatically deduct the quantities used from your stock. Each material's stock level is updated in real time, so your inventory always reflects what's actually in your workshop.
Can I set alerts for low stock?
Yes. For each material you can set a minimum stock threshold. When the stock drops below that level, ScentLabs flags the material so you know when to reorder.
Can I manage materials from multiple suppliers?
Yes. Each material entry supports supplier information and price per gram, so you can track the cost and source of every raw material in your inventory.