What is the difference between FIFO and FEFO in a warehouse?

FIFO picks stock in order of receipt: first in, first out. FEFO picks by the shortest expiry date: first to expire, first out. For goods with an expiry date FEFO is usually safer, because it follows the deadline rather than only the order of arrival.

Who is responsible when goods expire in the warehouse?

It depends on the instructions. The warehouse is responsible for duty of care and picking in the agreed rotation, but the owner must supply the expiry dates, label the batches and set the date priority. Without those points responsibility shifts to the goods owner, which is why OTSL settles the split of roles at intake.

How does OTSL prevent stock from expiring?

OTSL records batch numbers and expiry dates, picks by FEFO or FIFO as set in the instructions, and flags an approaching deadline to the owner in advance. This gives time to sell, move or pull the stock before it becomes a loss to write off and dispose of.

Expired stock in the warehouse: who is responsible

Stock expires in the warehouse when it is not picked in date order and nobody watches the expiry dates. FIFO/FEFO rotation is part of the warehouse duty of care, but how batches are labelled and whether date takes priority is set by the goods owner in the instructions. The gap between the two is the main reason stock gets written off. OTSL records batches and dates, picks by FEFO, and alerts before the deadline.

What goes wrong when nobody controls rotation

The classic mistake is picking whatever sits closest to the door instead of whatever has the shortest date. Without date control the first batch gets pushed to the back of the rack and stays there until it is out of date. A dead zone of stock builds up that nobody knows about until a stock count or a customer complaint reveals it.

No FIFO/FEFO: stock is picked out of order, older batches stack up behind newer ones.
No batch and date record: the warehouse does not know which pallet carries which date, so it cannot set a picking priority.
No alerts: nobody warns the owner early enough to sell or move the stock before the date runs out.
Unclear responsibility: the owner assumes the warehouse tracks dates on its own, the warehouse waits for an instruction that never came.

Who is really responsible: the warehouse or the goods owner

It depends on what the instructions say, and that is where disputes start. The warehouse has a duty of care: it must store the goods in the agreed conditions and pick them as agreed, including in FIFO or FEFO rotation where that rotation was arranged. If the owner did not hand over the expiry dates, did not label the batches, or did not state that date takes priority over order of receipt, responsibility shifts back toward the owner.

So the rule is simple: rotation and date control must be written into the instructions, not assumed. Without that in writing, each side defends its own version and the expired stock stays on the owner's books. OTSL settles this point at intake so there is no doubt who watches what.

What it really costs the client

The cost of expiry is not just the value of the written-off stock. On top of that come charges that are easy to overlook when signing a storage agreement.

Written-off stock: an out-of-date batch is a loss of the full value of the goods, not just the margin.
Disposal cost: expired goods usually cannot simply be thrown out, they have to be disposed of in line with the rules, which is a separate charge.
Out-of-date product reaching a customer: the worst case is a product past its date that has reached the end customer. That means a complaint, a return, reputational risk and, in a quality check, a serious problem.
Tied-up capital and space: stale batches occupy racking that could be turning sellable stock.

How does OTSL control dates and rotation?

In OTSL warehouses the date and batch are not a note on the pallet, they are a data field that drives the pick. The approach is simple and proven on the Poland, UK, Switzerland and Norway lanes.

FIFO or FEFO as agreed: by default we pick with priority on the shortest expiry date (FEFO), and where order of receipt matters we use FIFO. The rule is written into the instructions.
Batch and expiry tracking: every receipt carries a batch number and expiry date, so at any moment we know what has the shortest date and where it stands.
Pre-expiry alerts: an approaching deadline is flagged to the owner in advance, so there is time to sell, move or pull the stock before it becomes a loss.
Rule-based picking: picking follows the order, so the older batch leaves before the newer one, not the other way round.
Clear roles at intake: at the start we agree who supplies the dates, who labels the batches and what the rotation priority is, so nothing is left to assumption.

The result is that expiry stops being a surprise from the stock count and becomes a risk you can see coming and manage. If you store goods with an expiry date, message us through the form and let us set the rotation rule before the stock starts ageing on the rack.

Step by step

Batch labelling. You specify batch numbers and expiry dates when registering goods for warehousing.
Inbound verification. The warehouse checks physical product dates against the shipping documentation.
System entry. Expiry details are logged into the inventory management system with specific location tracking.
FEFO dispatch. The system directs pickers to collect items with the nearest expiry dates first.
Expiry alert. The warehouse issues a notification regarding stock approaching its minimum shelf life limit.

Definitions

FIFO (First In, First Out): A stock picking rule where goods received first into the warehouse are dispatched first.
FEFO (First Expired, First Out): A stock picking strategy where items with the shortest remaining shelf life are dispatched first.
Dead zone of stock: A section of warehousing where unmonitored goods remain stationary until they expire.
Stock rotation: The systematic movement and picking of stored items based on dates or order of arrival.