Expiry date monitoring for perishable items

Purpose

1. Monitor expiration dates for all perishable food/beverage items in inventory.

2. Automate alerts, re-ordering, and compliance reporting to minimize waste and health risks.

3. Centralize expiry data across physical stock, procurement, and POS for real-time analytics.

4. Facilitate supplier accountability and product lifecycle optimization for American restaurants.

5. Ensure proactive action for recalls or imminent expiration, integrated with staff workflows and manager oversight.

Trigger Conditions

1. New perishable inventory item received with an expiration date logged.

2. Scheduled daily/weekly scan of inventory for approaching or passed expiry thresholds (e.g., 3, 7, 30 days).

3. Manual update or adjustment to item expiry by staff.

4. Detection of discrepancy between POS+stock consumption and expected expiry timeline.

5. Integration API call from supplier or procurement system with expiry update.

Platform Variants

1. Twilio SMS

• Feature/Setting: Messaging API — configure alert workflow to send SMS on approaching expiry. Sample: “Send SMS when item ‘Milk’ is 3 days from expiry.”
  

2. SendGrid

• Feature/Setting: Transactional Email — setup expiry notifications, use dynamic templates with item details.
  

3. Slack

• Feature/Setting: Incoming Webhook — post expiry alerts to kitchen or inventory management channels.
  

4. Airtable

• Feature/Setting: Auto-updating fields + View filters; automate record updates when expiry field nears current date.
  

5. Google Sheets

• Feature/Setting: App Script triggers for conditional formatting and email alerts when expiry dates approach.
  

6. Zapier

• Feature/Setting: Zap — watch row changes in inventory, trigger expiry notifications via chosen channel.
  

7. Microsoft Teams

• Feature/Setting: Webhook connector — push perishable alerts to “Inventory” group for staff action.
  

8. Shopify

• Feature/Setting: Inventory API — monitor item expiry fields, trigger workflow to set “unavailable” flag or notify procurement.
  

9. QuickBooks

• Feature/Setting: Inventory tracking; use Ext. App Integration API to log expiring inventory as write-offs and trigger reorders.
  

10. Trello

• Feature/Setting: Automation rules (Butler); create cards on “Expiry Alerts” board for review/action.
  

11. Asana

• Feature/Setting: API & Rules — generate tasks for soon-to-expire items, assign to kitchen manager automatically.
  

12. Monday.com

• Feature/Setting: Automations — flag and notify when expiry column dates reach threshold.
  

13. Salesforce

• Feature/Setting: Inventory Management object + Scheduled Flows for expiry escalation and logging.
  

14. Freshdesk

• Feature/Setting: Ticket API — auto-create support/request tickets for expired items needing investigation or removal.
  

15. Google Calendar

• Feature/Setting: Events API — schedule reminders/meetings for stock checks on expiry dates.
  

16. Discord

• Feature/Setting: Webhook — send expiry alerts to kitchen/management Discord channels.
  

17. Notion

• Feature/Setting: Database automation — move or highlight entries as soon as expiry is approaching.
  

18. Smartsheet

• Feature/Setting: Conditional notifications based on date columns; automate escalation workflows.
  

19. Oracle NetSuite

• Feature/Setting: Inventory Management module — custom scripts for expiring item reports/alerts.
  

20. Square POS

• Feature/Setting: Catalog API — monitor perishable item metadata and issue staff notifications/pushes.
  

21. HubSpot

• Feature/Setting: Workflow automations for notifying stakeholders or tagging suppliers for at-risk items.
  

22. BambooHR

• Feature/Setting: Automated reminders for staff on disposal of expired goods (in food safety compliance context).
  

23. AWS Lambda

• Feature/Setting: Scheduled function for periodic checks on inventory DB; triggers alerts or integrations.
  

24. Dropbox Sign

• Feature/Setting: API — automate generation of compliance or destruction audits for expired inventory items.
  

Benefits

1. Minimizes waste and financial loss by ensuring timely usage or removal of perishables.

2. Enhances food safety compliance and audit readiness for American restaurants.

3. Reduces manual monitoring workload; staff focus moves to higher value tasks.

4. Centralizes expiry oversight for actionable visibility across restaurant locations and roles.

5. Improves supplier transparency, traceability, and fosters proactive supply chain relationships.