The supplier's email
A supplier writes to say that one lot of a botanical extract may not have met its specification, and asks you to check what you made with it. The lot number is on their email. To find which batches used it, someone goes through the goods-in book to find when it arrived, then through batch sheets from that period looking for the lot number in the handwritten column. Two batch sheets have the ingredient but no lot number written.
Then comes the second question: where did those batches go? The web shop, three stockists and a brand client's warehouse. Dispatch notes list products, not batch numbers.
The chain is broken in three places
Each step records something, but no step links to the next. Tracing becomes an exercise in cross-referencing paper by date.
- Goods-in records the supplier's lot number, but containers are not labelled with an internal reference.
- Batch sheets have a column for lot numbers, which is sometimes left blank when a container is half used.
- Part-used containers move between batches without their usage being recorded.
- Finished goods are stocked by product, not by batch.
- Dispatch notes and web orders record products, not batch numbers.
Why slow tracing matters
When you need to answer a question about a lot, you usually need to answer it quickly, and with confidence. A slow, uncertain trace means either withdrawing more stock than necessary to be safe, or not being able to say whether a stockist's stock is affected. Brand clients will ask the same question and expect a precise answer. What you do with the answer, and what you have to tell anyone, is for you and your adviser. Our part is making sure you can find the answer.
Lot tracing from goods in to dispatch
- At goods in, each raw material container gets a barcode label linked to the supplier's lot number, delivery date and the documents that came with it.
- When a batch is made, containers are scanned as they are used, so the lot number is recorded automatically with the quantity taken.
- Part-used containers keep their identity, so a lot used across several batches is recorded against each.
- Each finished batch gets a batch number that carries through filling, so finished goods stock is held by batch.
- Dispatches record the batch numbers picked, by scanning at packing, for wholesale orders, brand client deliveries and, where practical, web orders.
- A trace search starts from any point: a raw material lot shows every batch and every shipment, and a finished batch shows every ingredient lot and where it went.
| Link in the chain | Now | With lot tracing |
|---|---|---|
| Raw material container | Supplier label only | Your barcode, linked to lot and documents |
| Lot into batch | Handwritten, sometimes blank | Scanned as used |
| Finished goods | Stocked by product | Stocked by batch |
| Dispatch | Products listed | Batch numbers recorded |
| The trace | Days of paper | One search, both directions |
When the next email arrives
The question "which batches used this lot, and where did they go" is answered by a search, with a list of stockists and orders. You can contact exactly the customers affected, if you decide to. Brand clients get a precise answer. And the same records answer everyday questions too, such as which lot of a key ingredient went into a batch a customer has asked about.
Stock control improves as a side effect. Once containers are labelled and scanned, you can see how much of each lot is left, which part-used containers are sitting in the store, and which lots are getting close to their dates, without walking the shelves.
Could you trace a lot today?
- Lot numbers are written by hand on batch sheets.
- Some batch sheets have ingredient lot numbers missing.
- Finished goods are not stored or recorded by batch.
- Dispatch notes do not show batch numbers.
- A trace would take more than a day.