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Medical Device Warehouse Requirements: Unit Records, Sterility and Audit-Ready Storage (2026)

Warehouse property frontage seen from the road - a blue palisade fence, conifers along the boundary, a white banded building behind and three white SUVs on the paved forecourt

A medical device warehouse has to provide three things a general godown cannot: a record that ties every unit to a serial number, a model and an order before the crate is opened; protective, segregated space for optics, probes, sterile packs and certificate-bearing items; and evidence a hospital quality team or an external auditor can retrieve without taking anybody's word for it. Medical device warehouse requirements are those three written as minimums, each with a test attached, so a building can be scored pass or fail before a lease is signed. This is that specification, on a starting basis of ₹21 per sq ft per month in Delhi NCR.

  • Every unit is a record, not a quantity on a stock line: model, configuration variant, serial, accessory kit, order reference and visible crate condition written at the gate, while the cartons are still distinguishable from each other.
  • Sterile and non-sterile stock, saleable and non-saleable stock, and each open order sit in physically separate positions with their own register, because a pick from the wrong row cannot be undone once the pack reaches a theatre.
  • The building must hold a dry ambient band with no water ingress, no dust and no direct sun, and the storage band printed on the label governs; where a continuous temperature band is required, that is a purpose-built store and outside this network.
  • A written installation-readiness instruction, not a delivery date, releases stock, and the staging bay, kit verification and signed handover report are part of the requirement rather than a favour at the end.
Serial traceabilityone unit, one record Sterile segregationseparate positions Optics and probespadded shelving Environmentlabel-led band Documentsfiled by serial Audit accesson agreed notice
ARRIVALUNIT RECORDREADY ROOM
77+warehouses
1M+sq ft live space
12testable requirements

Most device storage enquiries arrive as a space question and get answered as one. The specification underneath is different: it asks what happens to a probe when a demonstration set comes back, who signs for forty units in twelve models, what a hospital's biomedical department wants to see before accepting a machine, and how a warranty claim is proved when a unit waited five months for a room.

The commercial side of the subject sits elsewhere - cost, site selection and how one import consignment is worked through three hospital orders are covered in the medical equipment warehousing guide. This is the sheet that follows it, the one a dealer or distributor sends to a landlord or a 3PL and carries on the visit. The service itself sits under medical equipment and device warehousing.

What medical device stock demands from a building that general cargo does not

Device stock is not volume-driven or weight-driven the way FMCG or steel is. It is identity-driven. A pallet of cartons is interchangeable with the next pallet of the same cartons; two units of the same imaging model are not, because each carries a serial, an accessory kit and an order that may belong to a different hospital. A building that cannot hold that distinction at unit level cannot hold device stock.

Identity, protection, evidence - and status

Identity means a position, a record and a label that resolve to one serial, and a count taken in units rather than cartons. Protection means controlling what damages devices at rest: damp, dust, direct sun, pressure on a shelf, a crate stacked beyond its rating, a floor-level position in a monsoon. Evidence means paper and data somebody else can check - the invoice copy, the certificate that came in the crate, the movement history, the signed handover.

The fourth demand shapes the layout more than any of the three: status. One building holds saleable stock, sterile packs, quarantine, returned units with a fault note, demonstration stock and consumables nearing expiry. Those must never share a shelf, because the failure is not a miscount - it is a non-sterile pack, or a faulted unit, reaching a patient area.

Five inputs to fix before you look at a building

A sheet that starts with square footage ends with a building that fits the number and not the stock. Fix these five in writing first; every row in the acceptance table is scored against them.

  1. Unit count and serial count, by model. Not cartons. Forty units across twelve models is a different requirement from four hundred of one, and it decides shelving depth and record workload.
  2. The largest crated unit - dimensions, mass, and whether it needs fork pockets, a 2 m door or a turning circle. A building constraint before it is a storage constraint.
  3. Handling class for each line - floor-standing, cartoned, padded-shelf, sterile pack, consumable. Four to six classes is normal for a dealer's catalogue, and each needs its own position type.
  4. The storage band on the label, unit by unit. Ambient, "below 30 °C", a stated band, a humidity ceiling, protect from light. If any line needs a continuous band with a logger and an alarm, say so at the start; that is a different facility.
  5. The order and audit calendar - open orders, whether tender lots are held whole, how often a buyer inspects, who signs a readiness instruction.

Area comes last, and it is a by-product: positions for four handling classes, a staging bay, an aisle wide enough for the crate, and a cage. A building is shortlisted against the sheet; the sheet is not adjusted to the building. That is how device warehousing in Delhi NCR is scoped, and it is the difference between a quote and a specification.

The acceptance specification: twelve requirements you can test on the visit

Attach this table to the requirement sheet and score each row pass or fail in writing. Treat three failures as a walk-away: the rows that fail are structural or procedural, and neither is fixed by a discount. These are drafting benchmarks, not a substitute for the fire or structural certificate.

RequirementMinimumHow to test it on the visitWhy it matters for this trade
Unit-level identity at intakeModel and configuration variant, serial number, accessory kit against the packing list, order or hospital reference, invoice number and visible crate condition - all written before put-awayAsk to see one receipt from the previous week, then try to trace one serial from the register to the crate face in under five minutesA serial logged after put-away is a serial never logged; warranty, installation, service and any recall all hang off that line
Racked rating, and slab positions for heavy cratesRated capacity per beam level in writing; floor-standing units on the slab with no racking above themRead the racking load plate, then ask where a 400 kg crated unit would stand and whether anything is racked over that spotImaging and floor-standing equipment concentrates weight in a small footprint; racking over it is a handling problem and a structural one
Height and level count for cartoned devicesClear height to the lowest sprinkler head, light fitting or truss, sufficient for the levels your crate heights allowMeasure at four corners and the centre, take the lowest figure, then count the levels it yields for your tallest cartonDevice cartons are light and bulky, so vertical levels - not floor area - decide how many units a bay actually holds
Controlled access and a lockable high-value positionA cage or lockable room for high-value, loan and demonstration units, a visitor log and a named access listAsk who holds the keys, who signs the visitor register, and whether your cage can be keyed separately from the restA high-value imaging unit and a carton of monitors need different controls; open shared access is the commonest route to a loss
Segregation by status and by sterilitySeparate marked positions for sterile and non-sterile, saleable and non-saleable, quarantine, and each open orderWalk the floor and ask a picker to show you the boundary, then ask what happens to a pack whose seal is torn in handlingOnce a quarantined or non-sterile pack enters a live sterile row, no record rescues it - the stock is written off
Padded shallow shelving for optics and probesDedicated shelving, one item deep wherever possible, nothing stored on top of a cased instrumentLook at the shelf directly above the optics and ask what sits there; check the shelf face for daylight and dustEndoscopes, cameras, transducers and probes are the highest-value fragile lines and fail from pressure, dust and knocks, not from weight
An ambient environment the building can evidenceNo standing damp, no water entry at the shutter or wall base, dust controlled, no direct sun on cartons; label band respectedLook for a tide mark at the shutter and wall base, touch the lowest shelf, and ask what the floor does in a monsoonSeals, adhesives, plastics and single-use packs degrade with damp and heat; a swollen carton is a rejected consignment
Packaging integrity and re-closing disciplineCrates reclosed, banded and re-marked with the order after any inspection; desiccant replaced; stack height within the carton ratingAsk to see the re-closing procedure, then look at the banding on three crates that are ready for dispatchThe OEM crate is part of the device's protection; a crate reclosed with tape loses its shock protection and the argument that goes with it
Document custody against the serialInvoice copy, packing list, test or calibration certificate where supplied, manual, warranty terms and installation kit filed to the serial and released with itPick any serial and ask for its complete document set; time how long it takes to produceWarranty and commissioning disputes are decided on documents, and a certificate separated from its unit is a certificate lost
A written readiness instruction before dispatchA named person on the buyer's side authorises each dispatch in writing, naming room, department, date and installing engineerAsk what happens when a room slips after a load is already staged, and who is told firstEquipment sent to an unfinished room becomes an unprotected asset in a corridor, and often an uninsured one
Movement history and export on demandLocation per unit, every movement dated and attributed, and a CSV or spreadsheet export of the serial list on requestAsk for one serial's movement history on screen, then ask for the same list as a file, and watch how it is producedA hospital's biomedical team, an auditor and a warranty claim all ask for the same thing; a screen with no export is not a record
Audit access on agreed noticeNamed third-party auditors admitted, records retrievable within a stated time, and no restriction on counting your own stockAsk what notice they want, who accompanies an auditor, and whether you may count your stock unsupervisedHospital groups and tender buyers audit their suppliers' storage; a site that resists audit fails the buyer rather than the visit

Two rows carry more weight than the rest: identity at intake and document custody. A warranty claim, an installation report, a service visit and an audit are all queries against those two. If either fails, the building is not a device warehouse whatever else it passes - which is why medical device warehousing is scoped on them first.

Score a building against the twelve rows

Send the twelve rows with your unit count, your largest crated unit and the labels' storage bands - we reply with which facilities pass, which rows they fail, and the rate for the positions.

Send the specificationCall +91 93547 12345

Serial, model and UDI records: the data the building must hold

A device record has one primary key: the serial number. Model, order, hospital, accessory kit, certificate and dispatch date are attributes of that key. The requirement is that the building answers, for any unit, where it is now, where it has been, what came in the crate, which order it belongs to and what document proves it - in minutes, not a week.

Nine records carry the requirement, each with a format, an owner and a frequency.

RecordWhat it must containFrequencyWho signs it off
Goods receipt noteDate, vehicle, supplier, invoice and bill of entry where imported, model, serial list, accessory kit per unit, damaged or short units, photographsEvery receipt, closed the same dayReceiving supervisor
Unit registerOne line per serial: model, order, hospital, handling class, position, status - saleable, hold, quarantine, loan, demo, serviceAt put-away; reconciled weeklyStore controller
Movement logSerial, from-position, to-position, reason, date, time and person, including internal moves between zonesEvery movementStore controller
Kit and accessory recordAccessory list per serial, checked out and back, with any missing item flagged on the same dayEvery dispatch and returnDispatch supervisor
Document fileInvoice copy, packing list, test or calibration certificate, manual, warranty terms, installation kit, filed to the serialAt intake; released with the unitStore controller
Sterile and expiry registerBatch, expiry, seal condition, position, and first-expiry-first-out sequence for dated packs and consumablesMonthly walk, weekly for short-dated linesQuality nominee
Dispatch and gate registerReadiness instruction reference, invoice or challan, vehicle, serials loaded, e-way bill where applicable, gate-out timeEvery dispatchDispatch supervisor
Non-conformance logDamage, seal failure, missing accessory, wrong pick, near miss, with the correction and the date it closedEvery occurrence, reviewed monthlyFacility manager and client
Premises and safety fileFire NOC, insurance, pest control, cleaning schedule, logger records where the client places them, staff trainingQuarterly, tracked to expiryFacility manager

UDI and barcode capture where the client supplies it

Many manufacturers print a UDI or GTIN-carrying barcode on the unit label or carton, and buyers increasingly expect the identifier in the supplier's data. Where a client's system holds UDI data, the requirement is to capture it at intake - by scan where the label allows, by keyed entry where it does not - and to hold it on the unit record beside the manufacturer's serial, both searchable, without translating one into the other. What a warehouse cannot do is invent the identifier: if the label carries only a model and a serial, that is what the record holds, and a facility promising otherwise is selling a labelling service it does not run.

Warranty-linked documentation

A maker's warranty usually keys off one of three dates: the supplier invoice, the commissioning date, or the date the installation report is signed. In this trade those can be months apart, because equipment waits for a building, a sanction or a room. Only the intake entry and the signed installation report, filed against the same serial, prove the gap - which is why both belong in the warehouse's document file and not only in the dealer's accounts. Keep the invoice copy, the party who installed the unit, the signed commissioning report and the warranty terms that arrived with an imported unit, and reconcile the serial list line for line with the buyer's asset register: a ten-minute job when the record exists, a fortnight of argument when it does not.

What a hospital quality team will ask to see

Hospital groups, institutional buyers and their consultants now audit a supplier's storage before or during a contract, and the audit is rarely about the building. Expect eight: the unit register for the lots on order; movement history for sample serials; one complete document file; the sterile and expiry register; the non-conformance log; pest control and cleaning schedules; the access and visitor log; and a named person accountable for each. A facility that answers all eight in an afternoon passes; one that answers six and promises the rest does not.

Two things make an audit survivable. Records must be retrievable by somebody other than the person who wrote them, because staff change. And the right to audit must be a term in the agreement - with notice, an accompaniment rule and a confidentiality clause. For the physical side of the same visit the warehouse inspection checklist is a useful second pair of eyes.

Handling delicate, calibrated and sterile items without claiming to test them

Most device stock is electronics and optics inside a heavy shell, so the fragile parts are the ones the crate stops protecting once opened, and the paperwork is what gets separated first. Handling requirements here are about position, containment and document custody, not machinery - the operating version is in the medical equipment warehousing guide.

Four position types carry most of it, and a catalogue usually needs all four: a slab bay for floor-standing and crated units with nothing racked above; racked positions for cartoned monitors, pumps and small ultrasound, one order per row; shallow padded shelving for optics, probes and instruments, nothing on top; and sealed, separated shelving for sterile and dated packs on first-expiry-first-out.

Optics, probes and the shelf above them

An endoscope or camera head is damaged by three things a general bay provides freely: something placed on top of its case, dust on an unprotected connector, and a pallet truck reversing into the shelving. The requirement is a shelf shallow enough that nothing stacks behind the case, clear of the turning circle, out of direct sun. Ask what sits above the optics; if it is a carton of anything, the position fails.

Certificates travel with the unit; calibration is not a warehouse service

Some units arrive with a test or calibration certificate from the manufacturer or an accredited laboratory, and that certificate is part of the unit's value and of its warranty argument. The warehouse's job is custody and traceability: file it against the serial, keep it in the document set, and let no dispatch leave without it. What the warehouse does not do is calibrate, verify, re-test, validate or certify the device. Lozy does not provide calibration, sterilisation, validation or repair services and has no metrology laboratory or accredited testing facility. Any requirement that reads "calibrate before dispatch" belongs with the maker, its authorised service partner or an accredited laboratory, and needs writing into your process before it appears in a storage contract.

Sterile and non-sterile: a boundary, not a label

A sterile barrier is intact or it is not. The moment a pack sits in a row with non-sterile goods, handling, dust and wrong-pick risk apply to it. The requirement is a physically separated position - a closed shelving unit or a marked section - with its own register, first-expiry-first-out rotation, a rule that a pack with a torn, damp or compressed seal goes to quarantine the same day, and a rule that nothing is repacked or re-labelled at the warehouse. Damaged sterile stock is quarantined, recorded and returned to the supplier for reprocessing under their control. Lozy does not sterilise or re-sterilise devices and runs no autoclave or ethylene oxide facility.

What the building must control: damp, dust, light and heat

Device storage is ambient storage, and ambient has to be defined or it means whatever the shed does. Four things are testable on a visit. Water: no tide mark at the shutter or wall base, no staining on the lowest shelf, a floor that falls away from the stock. Dust: an unpaved yard and an open shutter film every carton in a week. Light: cartons should not sit in direct sun, since heat builds inside a sealed crate faster than in the room. Heat and humidity: an uninsulated metal roof in a Delhi NCR May holds a bay well above the band printed on most labels, and the honest test is a data logger left in the position for a week, not a thermometer read at eleven in the morning.

The label governs, not this article. If a line says store below 30 °C, or within a stated band, or under a humidity ceiling, the building meets it in the position offered or the position is not offered. A line needing a continuous band with a logger, an alarm and a mapping study belongs in a purpose-built temperature-controlled store; this network does not run cold rooms.

Warehouse property frontage seen from the road - a blue palisade fence with a looped lower rail, conifers along the boundary, a white banded building behind and three white SUVs on the paved forecourt
A warehouse property seen from the road, and the part of it a device consignment actually meets first: the blue palisade fence with its looped lower rail, conifers along the boundary, the white banded building behind them, and a paved forecourt holding three white SUVs. That forecourt is the turning head a crated imaging unit has to negotiate before it reaches a shutter, and the reason door width, apron depth and gate clearance belong in the requirement sheet rather than in the driver's judgement.

Protective packaging and the unboxing question

The crate is part of the device: foam, moulded inserts, desiccant, sometimes a shock or tilt indicator, and a warranty argument if the unit arrives damaged. Crates are not opened beyond what receiving needs, and where a client wants a visual check the crate is opened against the packing list, reclosed with the original inserts, rebanded and re-marked - not taped shut and left. Exposed desiccant is replaced or the client is told. Cartons are stacked only to the height their compression strength allows. On dispatch the crate face carries the hospital reference and the shock indicator is photographed before loading.

Hospital, tender and installation order staging

Device stock leaves in order-shaped pieces, not in a steady flow, and the building has to hold the pieces apart until each is called. That is a layout requirement before it is a process requirement: a staging bay near the outbound face, a marked lane per open order, and a rule that stock allocated to an order is picked from that order's row and nowhere else.

Three order shapes, three staging rules

Three shapes cover most of it. A single-site order - one hospital or department - is staged and kit-verified as one group and dispatched in installation sequence. A tender or rate-contract lot is held whole in one position and drawn in the sequence the award allows, never raided to fill a smaller order for an identical model, because once invoiced the serial is the only thing tying a unit to the buyer. A multi-site group order - the same model to six hospitals - is split at staging into named sub-lots with their own crate markings, because six identical cartons carrying one reference is how the wrong machine reaches the wrong site.

The staging bay and the kit table

Staging is a work area, not storage, and needs its own square of floor: room for one order's crates, a table for accessory kits, and space to reband a crate without blocking an aisle. The sequence never changes - pull units against the order, check each serial against the register, check the kit against the record, match separately shipped hardware to its machine, reclose and band, mark the crate face, photograph the shock indicator, load in installation order. An order that skips the kit check is an installation that gets revisited.

Tender lots, pre-dispatch inspection and the hold question

Institutional buying brings two requirements a retail order does not. The first is pre-dispatch inspection: the buyer or its consultant counts the lot, samples a carton, checks labels against the purchase order and may witness a packing check. That is an access requirement, and the site should host an inspector at stated notice without disturbing the building. The second is holding one position for months while a sanction moves - which is what a monthly basis is for, and why a tender lot waiting on a building is a long-term warehousing case rather than an annual lease.

Staging also decides which site you need. A group order split across Gurugram, Noida and Faridabad is cheaper held once near the middle while the lot is intact; once it splits, a second position nearer one hospital cluster can pay for itself in avoided transport. The warehouse space and business warehousing bases cover that pattern, and the belts are described in the Gurgaon warehousing guide.

The installation-readiness gate

Nothing leaves for a hospital on a delivery date; it leaves on a readiness instruction, and readiness is a checklist rather than a feeling. The room is finished including flooring and cable routing; the power the unit is rated for is live with stabiliser, UPS and earthing; medical gas, water and drainage are signed off where needed; network drops and IT clearance exist, because a connected device that cannot connect is not commissioned; and the route in - door widths, corridor turns, lift capacity - is measured against the crate. A shielded imaging room is a question for the hospital, not something a warehouse can confirm.

The instruction must be written and name the room, the department, the date, the installing engineer and the person authorising it. Verbal readiness is how a crated unit ends up in a corridor. If the room slips after a load is staged, the load returns to its position, crates are rechecked and the change is logged - and a site that cannot describe that reversal has not done it before. Send the readiness list on WhatsApp with the order reference and we will confirm which serials are staged against it.

Licences, registrations and the documents that must exist

There is no certificate that reads "medical device warehouse". What must exist is a pair: the premises must show the statutory approvals for commercial storage at that address, and the business holds the licences that attach to what it does with the devices - import, distribution, sale. Both are checked before the first consignment, and a site that cannot produce them is eliminated on paper rather than after a delivery is turned away.

What the premises must show

  • Proof of lawful occupancy - lease, leave-and-licence or ownership in the name of the entity that invoices you, with the unit identified on a plan, not a gate number.
  • Fire safety certificate or NOC for this premises and this use, current, with the address matching the agreement. It is the document most often produced expired, and a NOC issued for a different occupancy is not a NOC for device storage.
  • Land-use confirmation that storage is permitted on the plot - an estate allotment, a change-of-land-use order, or a municipal trade licence where one is issued.
  • Structural confirmation of floor load and, where racking is installed, the design with its last inspection record and the load rating the acceptance table asks for.
  • Building insurance, plus a written answer on what covers your stock: whose policy, which perils, what excess, and whether high-value units need a separate declaration.
  • GST tax invoice capability in the contracting entity's name, and the power connection agreement so the sanctioned load is a contracted asset, not an assumption.

What the business itself must hold

Every business needs GST, and for a warehouse the operative step is adding the premises as an additional place of business rather than assuming the registered address covers it; the conditions sit on the GST portal, and your accountant should confirm how they apply to your entity. Around that:

  • Import licence for devices, where you import them. Under the Medical Devices Rules, 2017 the Central Licensing Authority at the Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation grants import licences, and the licence is held by the importer, not the warehouse. Devices are classified A to D by risk under those Rules, and the class follows the product, not the brand.
  • A distribution or sale licence for the activity you carry on. Sale and distribution is regulated at state level through your State Drugs Controller, and the form depends on device classes and that state's practice - ask in writing before signing a lease, because the answer decides whether the address appears on a licence at all.
  • IEC from the DGFT where you import, with the DGFT as the reference.
  • BIS certification or registration for categories carrying a compulsory mark, checked per product family against the Bureau of Indian Standards. A warehouse does not create compliance.
  • Legal metrology registration where the premises packs or labels pre-packaged goods for sale, and Udyam registration where the business qualifies as an MSME.
  • Stock insurance in your own name, because the facility's policy covers the building and its own liability, not your devices.

Three fields per document: entity name, premises address, expiry date. A fire certificate for the shed next door is not a certificate for this one, and a document naming a different entity means the invoice comes from somebody other than the party holding the approvals. Put the list inside the requirement sheet and let a site fail on paper: send us the list you are working to and we will say which items a Lozy facility provides and which sit with you as the business.

What moves the monthly figure in this trade

Six inputs move a device storage bill, and only one is the rate per square foot. The rest explain why two dealers with the same unit count get very different numbers for what sounds like the same space.

  • Position type, not area. Padded shelving holds far fewer units per square foot than pallet racking, and a slab bay for a crated imaging unit holds one. Compare cost per unit stored.
  • Record workload. Unit-by-unit intake, kit verification and document filing against a serial are labour. Forty serials cost more to hold properly than four hundred cartons.
  • Handling class mix. Heavy crates needing equipment, fragile items needing two people and a check, and sterile packs needing rotation are three cost lines under one rent.
  • Dwell time and shape. A tender lot held five months differs from an import lot clearing in six weeks, and a monthly basis lets the second step down when the programme ends.
  • Audit frequency. A buyer who inspects quarterly, counts stock and asks for document packs needs a facility that hosts it without stopping. A cheap site that cannot is not cheap.
  • Distance to the installing sites. In Delhi NCR the daily run to your hospitals usually picks the site before the rate does; what matters is minutes at the hour the vehicle leaves, not kilometres.

The published bases measure different things; read them side by side on the pricing page. Floor area starts at ₹21 per sq ft per month on the warehouse for rent page; racked or open space taken month by month follows the same basis under business warehousing; whole-bay space for bulky crates sits under commercial warehousing and industrial bulk warehousing. Where stock runs as a tracked unit ledger, the inventory and stock storage plan is published from ₹4,499 per month, a long-term hold from ₹1,199 per month, and a document archive at ₹49 per box per month - a sensible home for installation and warranty files that outlive the stock. A single project fits on-demand warehousing. All are starting rates, billed monthly with a GST invoice and no long lock-in; the per-position arithmetic is in the cost per pallet guide.

The five ways device storage fails, and the row that catches each

Failures here are rarely dramatic and rarely caused by carelessness on the floor. They are gaps in the specification that surface months later, usually in front of a customer or an auditor.

One: serials written down after put-away

The consignment is received against a carton count because the vehicle is waiting, and the serials are to be captured "once the crates are in position". By then the cartons look identical and the exercise is quietly abandoned. Six months later a buyer asks which unit went to a particular hospital and the answer is a quantity. This failure cannot be reconstructed - only re-created by opening every crate.

Two: the accessory kit treated as packing material

Probes, cables, footswitches, brackets and keys arrive in the crate and are consolidated into a tote "so they are not lost". They are then lost, or dispatched with the wrong machine. A monitor that reaches a ward without its mount is a second visit; a probe at the wrong hospital is a set that does not work.

Three: sterile stock in a general row

Sterile packs go on the nearest shelf because they are small and light, next to non-sterile consumables, and nothing says otherwise. Nobody notices until a pack with a compressed seal is opened in a theatre. There is no recovery except writing off the stock, which is why separation has to be a physical boundary agreed before the first carton lands.

Four: a building that cannot hold its own environment in a monsoon

The floor falls towards the shutter, the yard is unpaved, and the first heavy week of rain puts two centimetres of water against the bottom row. Cartons wick, labels lift, and a device is written off for reasons that have nothing to do with the device. All of it is visible on a dry-day visit with a bottle of water and a look at the wall base.

Five: dispatch on a date instead of an instruction

A delivery date is agreed in a purchase order, a vehicle is booked, and the room is not ready - civil work slipped, power is not live. The crate goes anyway because the date was in the system, and a machine worth more than the year's rent stands in a corridor without protection or insurance.

All five share a shape: cheaper to prevent than to repair, and visible before signature to somebody who knows what to look for. Where the alternative is a full-service partner rather than a space, the 3PL warehousing in Delhi NCR guide compares the two honestly; where the building is shared, the shared warehouse guide sets out the separation to insist on. The pharma guide covers medicines and the temperature classes this network does not run.

The handover, from requirement to first installation dispatch

Nine steps take a requirement to a working device store, and the order matters more than the speed. The two compressed under time pressure - the written layout and the test intake - prevent the expensive surprises.

  1. Write the requirement sheet. The twelve rows, unit counts by model, the largest crated unit, handling classes, storage bands and the order calendar.
  2. Ask for documents before visiting. Fire NOC, occupancy proof, land use, structural and racking confirmation, insurance, power agreement, GST status of the invoicing entity, and the importer's or distributor's licence.
  3. Shortlist two or three buildings on one belt, so the comparison is about buildings, not the drive. The Faridabad guide and the Noida guide set out what sits where.
  4. Visit with a test kit. A measure, a bottle of water, your largest crate dimensions, one padded-shelf item in its case, the printed table, and a data logger if a band matters.
  5. Agree the layout on the drawing. Slab bays, racked rows by order, padded shelving, the sterile position, the cage, the staging bay - marked, not described.
  6. Set the operating rules in writing. Inbound windows, same-day dispatch cut-off, vehicle booking, crate-marking standard, kit verification, quarantine handling and the escalation contact.
  7. Sign, then load the record. Your users on the system, the item master and serial list imported, one dummy unit received, moved, staged and dispatched, one document pack filed against it.
  8. Run a test intake. One vehicle, one order, three serials - received, put away, staged against a written instruction and dispatched under observation, including one deliberate exception such as a missing accessory.
  9. Measure the first month. Serials captured at intake as a share of units received, kit discrepancies, document packs complete, dispatch accuracy against the readiness instruction. Four numbers tell you whether the store works.

The handover is also when the exit is agreed: notice, how heavy crates are released and with what equipment, how long the register and document files are retained after the stock leaves, and in what format. A facility that cannot answer the exit question on day one is planning to make it difficult later. The physical side of the same visit is on the warehouse inspection checklist.

Book the visit with the sheet in hand

Tell us the unit count, the largest crated unit and the belts your hospitals sit on - we will hold the positions that pass the twelve rows and walk the layout on site.

Book the site visitCall +91 93547 12345

What to put in the agreement

Ten clauses decide whether a device storage arrangement survives its first difficult month. Most disputes trace to one being absent rather than to anybody acting in bad faith.

  1. The positions, named and marked. Slab bays, racked rows, padded shelves, the sterile position, the cage and the staging square, each on a plan, with the load rating of every rack level stated.
  2. The record specification, as a term. Fields captured at intake, reconciliation frequency, the form of the register and the export format you receive - so "serial-wise records" is a deliverable, not a description.
  3. Document custody. Which documents the facility holds against a serial, that they are released with the unit, and that they are returned or exported at exit.
  4. Access and audit. Who may enter your positions, whether the cage keys separately, your right to count stock, and the notice a third-party auditor needs.
  5. Handling, itemised. Per unit received, per kit verified, per crate handled with equipment, per pallet, per vehicle - with what each includes.
  6. Dispatch discipline. That release requires a written readiness instruction, who may give it, and what happens to a staged load when the instruction is withdrawn.
  7. Liability and insurance. Who insures what, the excess, whether a loss is valued at cost or replacement, and how concealed transit and cosmetic damage are treated.
  8. Non-conformance and quarantine. How damage, seal failure and missing accessories are recorded, how long quarantined stock may sit, who decides disposition and who pays for return freight.
  9. Term, price review and exit. Monthly billing and notice, how a rate change is communicated, days to release stock after notice, and the equipment provided for loading out.
  10. GST and invoicing. The entity that invoices, its GSTIN and the place of supply. A rent receipt instead of a tax invoice is a cost, not a saving, because input credit is lost with it.

Keep the agreement and the requirement sheet side by side before signing. A row that survives only as a promise in an email is a preference, and preferences disappear when the account manager changes. The service set is on the services page, and the network it applies across is on locations.

Where Lozy fits, and where we do not

Lozy runs 77+ warehouses and more than one million square feet of live space from a Delhi NCR base, with device positions scoped against the twelve rows: unit records written at intake, slab bays for crated units, padded shelving for optics and probes, a lockable position for high-value and demonstration stock, separated status zones and a staging bay tied to a written readiness instruction. Billing is monthly with a GST invoice and no long lock-in; floor area starts at ₹21 per sq ft per month, an inventory plan is published from ₹4,499 per month and a long-term hold from ₹1,199 per month. What is available now is on the warehouse listing, the vertical is described on the medical equipment and devices page, and the service set is on services.

Not every device enquiry belongs here, and saying so is part of the specification. Lozy does not calibrate, test, validate, sterilise or re-sterilise devices and holds no metrology or accredited testing facility. There is no cold room, no temperature-guaranteed storage, no bonded warehouse and no licence for hazardous or explosive goods. Devices needing a continuous controlled band, a cleanroom classification or a sterilisation step belong in a specialist facility built for that purpose - we will say so rather than take the booking. Where the requirement is ambient, dry, secure, serial-tracked storage with an audit trail, it is squarely inside this network.

If your requirement sits on the right side of that line, email the requirement sheet to care@lozy.in with your serial list and the hospitals you supply, and we will reply with the facilities that pass the rows and the rate, usually within the working day. Contact us for anything the sheet does not cover.

Take the specification to a site, not a brochure

Send the twelve rows and your storage bands - we will confirm which facilities pass them, which fail, and what the positions cost per month.

Send the specificationCall +91 93547 12345

Related guides

Sources. Prices, plan figures and network numbers here are Lozy's published information, checked 25 October 2026. Device regulation, the Medical Devices Rules, 2017 and the A to D risk classification come from the Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation; product standards and compulsory certification from the Bureau of Indian Standards; sector context from IBEF's medical devices profile; GST registration and additional place of business from the GST portal; and government releases through the Press Information Bureau. The minimums in the acceptance table are drafting benchmarks for a requirement sheet, not a substitute for a structural, fire or licensed engineer's certification of the building.

Last updated: 25 October 2026. Something the FAQ below does not cover? Call +91 93547 12345 or email care@lozy.in.

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Frequently Asked Questions

What are the minimum requirements for medical device warehousing?

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Twelve, each testable on a visit: a unit-level record written at intake with model, serial, accessory kit and order reference; slab positions for crated floor-standing units with nothing racked above; padded shallow shelving for optics and probes; separated positions for sterile, non-sterile, quarantine and each open order; a dry, dust-free ambient environment where the label's storage band is met; a document file held against each serial; a written readiness instruction before dispatch; an exportable movement history; and audit access on agreed notice.

Which licence do I need to store medical devices?

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There is no licence that says medical device warehouse. What the business needs is the licence for what it does with the devices: an importer holds an import licence from the Central Licensing Authority at CDSCO, and sale or distribution is licensed at state level through your State Drugs Controller, in a form that depends on device classes and state practice. The premises separately shows lawful occupancy, a current fire NOC for that address and use, land-use permission for storage, and GST tax invoice capability.

What floor load and racking rating does device stock need?

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Most device cartons are light, so the constraint is rarely kilograms per square metre across the floor. It is the rating of each rack beam level, which must be stated in writing, and the point load of a crated imaging unit standing on the slab. The rule that matters: floor-standing equipment goes on the slab with no racking above it, and cartons are stacked only to the height their compression strength allows.

How do I test a building for device storage on a visit?

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Carry a measure, a bottle of water, the dimensions of your largest crate, one padded-shelf instrument in its case, a printed copy of the twelve requirements and a data logger if a storage band matters. Then run five checks: trace one serial from the register to its crate face in under five minutes, look at what is stored above the optics, look for a tide mark at the shutter, ask for one serial's document set, and ask for a movement history as an exported file.

What records must a medical device warehouse keep for each unit?

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A goods receipt note with model, serial list, accessory kit and condition; a unit register with one line per serial and its current status; a movement log for every internal move; a kit record checked out and back; a document file holding invoice, packing list, test certificate, manual and warranty terms; a sterile and expiry register rotated first-expiry-first-out; a dispatch and gate register; and a non-conformance log with the correction and the date it closed.

What temperature and humidity does medical device storage need?

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The storage band printed on the label governs, not a general figure. Most device stock sits in dry ambient conditions, but an uninsulated roof in a Delhi NCR May can hold a bay well above the band on the label, so the honest test is a data logger left in the proposed position for a week. Where a line needs a continuous band with an alarm and a mapping study, that is a purpose-built store - this network runs no cold rooms and guarantees no temperature band.

How should sterile and non-sterile devices be kept apart?

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By a physical boundary, not a painted line: a closed shelving unit or a marked section with its own register and first-expiry-first-out rotation, so a non-sterile carton cannot be picked from the same row as a sterile pack. A pack with a torn, damp or compressed seal goes to quarantine the same day and nothing is repacked or re-labelled at the warehouse. Sterilisation and re-sterilisation are not warehouse services.

Can several dealers share a medical device warehouse?

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Yes, and most shared facilities hold several. Each client gets its own marked positions, its own keyed cage for high-value and demonstration units, and its own serial register - a shared building, never a shared record. What to insist on in the agreement is the boundary: which positions are yours, who else may enter them, your right to count stock, and the notice a hospital auditor needs before inspecting.