Excel or Access for Inventory control

Howdy,


I maintain the medication stock for an ambulance service. Previously I had set up a simple inventory excel sheet to what I thought would make my life a little easier. The spreadsheet does what I wanted it to, tracks up to two different expiry dates for each medication, amount of stock that is on hand, min/max inventory amounts with coloured indicator for ok, order soon, order now and how much to bring up to max stock. It will also show how much of my stock is expiring at the end of the month.

What I didn't anticipate was how much time it would take to keep this up to date, to the point where im back to just keeping track of most of it in my head. While the spreadsheet gives me a quick overview, I also lose any ability to keep track of changes or pull any data from this sheet.

What I would like is an easier way of updating the info, keeping records of changes (be great if I have the option of putting in -2 for example to just decrease, or input a full count and compare), generate usage reports and order forms.

I have no idea if I can do this is excel or if I need to move on to access, excel I atleast have an idea how to use, access not so much. Attached is the spreadsheet I currently use, I had individual sheets for each ambulance, plus the drug locker but I have edited out the ambulances for now.


Thanks in advance for your insight


DanDrug Stock.xls