Lot and batch traceability, from supplier to customer
Trace a raw-material lot from the supplier's receipt, through every manufacturing order that used it, to the customers it was delivered to. One screen per lot.
The question it answers
A customer rings to say a bracket cracked. You need to know three things quickly: which raw material it was made from, which other orders used the same material, and which customers received those parts. With paper registers that is a day's work. With lots recorded in the ERP it is one screen.
How lots are recorded
- On receipt. When a purchase order is received, each product marked as lot-tracked is given a lot number. Print it on the label and stick it on the material.
- In production. When a manufacturing order consumes material, it records which lot it took and how much.
- On delivery. Deliveries record the lots shipped to each customer.
- On rejection. A quality rejection can be linked to the manufacturing order and the material lot.
Nobody fills in a separate traceability register. The trail is a by-product of receiving, making and shipping in the system.
The lot screen
Open BI & Analytics → Lot Traceability, pick or scan a lot, and you see:
| Figure | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Received | Quantity that came in under this lot |
| Used in production | Quantity consumed by manufacturing orders |
| Produced | Quantity of finished goods made from it |
| Delivered | Quantity shipped to customers |
| Scrapped | Quantity written off |
| In stock now | What is left on the shelf |
Below the figures are the manufacturing orders that used the lot, with their product, quantity, status and finish date, and a dated list of every movement.
A worked example
The sample factory that every trial can load contains one lot of EN8 steel bar, STEEL-2026-001:
- 100 kg received from the supplier
- 50 kg used by manufacturing order
MO/00001to make 25 brake caliper brackets - 20 brackets delivered to the customer and invoiced
- 5 brackets rejected for a burr on the mounting hole, linked to the order and the lot
Open the lot and all of that is on one page.
Barcodes
Lot numbers can be printed as barcodes or QR codes and scanned with a handheld scanner or a phone camera, so stores staff do not type them.
Related
Last updated 12 October 2026