Lot traceability: a guide for food producers
What “one step back, one step forward” traceability means, what to record and how to answer a complaint in minutes.
When a complaint or product recall arrives, there’s one question: which batches are affected and where did they go? The answer depends on how well you track lots.
One step back, one step forward
Food safety rules aligned with EU law require you to know who supplied each raw material and who you delivered each product to. Inside the plant, good traceability connects both sides: which raw material went into which batch.
What to record
| STEP | DATA |
|---|---|
| Receiving | supplier, item, supplier lot, expiry, quantity, date |
| Production | which raw-material lots went into which batch, shift, line |
| Finished product | new lot, best-before date, quantity |
| Delivery | which customer, which lot, quantity, date |
Where the chain usually breaks
- Raw material is taken “off the shelf” without recording the lot.
- A batch is made from several lots but only one is recorded.
- The finished-product label isn’t linked to the production record.
- Delivery notes don’t include the lot.
What a good system looks like
- Receiving by scanning the supplier lot.
- Issuing to production by scanning — the system knows what went into the batch.
- Printing a label with a new lot and barcode at the end of the line.
- Delivery by scanning — the lot goes onto the delivery note and invoice.
A drill before the real complaint
Pick a random finished-product lot and try to find: which raw materials, from which suppliers, which customers. If that takes more than a few minutes, there’s room to improve.
Traceability is part of our production system — connected to the warehouse and delivery. More about manufacturing automation →