A lot code printer puts the lot number and date on your packaging so every bag, jar or case can be traced back to the batch it came from. For a small producer there are four kinds, roughly from cheapest to most automated: a date and lot stamp, a label printer that prints lot labels you stick on, a handheld inkjet coder that prints straight onto bags and cartons, and a printer built into a packing line. Small makers usually start with a stamp or a label printer, and the choice comes down to what you're printing on, how many units a day, and whether you need a barcode. Below is what each one does, what to put in the code, and how to choose.
The short version
- Stamps: cheapest, manual, fine for low volume; legibility depends on the hand.
- Label printers: print lot labels with a barcode; you stick them on.
- Handheld inkjet coders: print directly on cartons, kraft bags and some films.
- Line printers: for packing lines running continuously; more than a small maker needs.
- The code itself matters more than the printer: lot code and date, readable, the same format every time.
- A barcode on the label lets a scan read the lot at the next step.
- TaroStack prints lot labels from the lot itself, for an office printer or a Zebra. More below.
The four kinds
| Kind | Prints on | Volume | What it prints | Watch out for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Date and lot stamp | Labels, cartons, paper bags | Low | Text set by hand each day | Smudges, wrong dates, slow |
| Label printer (thermal) | Labels you apply | Low to medium | Text and barcodes, from software | Labeling time; direct thermal labels fade in heat |
| Handheld inkjet coder | Cartons, kraft, some plastics | Medium | Text, dates, some barcodes | Ink choice for your surface; drying |
| Line printer (thermal transfer or inkjet) | Film on a packing line | High | Anything, automatically | Cost, setup, a line to mount it on |
What goes in the code
The printer only prints what you decide the code is. A good lot code is short, means something to you, and is the same format every time: for example the product, the date made and the batch that day, like TC-261012-A. Add the best-by date in a format nobody can misread. How to build the code is in how to create lot numbers, and the date formats that buyers and customers read correctly are in best by date format.
If you sell to stores, a barcode that carries the product code, the lot and the date together (a GS1-128 barcode) lets the store's receiving scan read all three. How those codes work is in GS1 barcodes for small food producers.
Choosing one
| If you | Start with |
|---|---|
| Make under a few hundred units a day, on labels | A label printer; a stamp as a backup |
| Need a barcode on each unit or case | A label printer that prints barcodes |
| Print on kraft bags or cartons with no label | A handheld inkjet coder |
| Run film through a packing machine | A line printer, with your packaging supplier's advice |
| Are still testing products | A stamp, and move up when volume justifies it |
My suggestion is to start with labels from software you already use for lots, so the code on the package and the code in your records come from the same place. A stamp set by hand each morning is how a lot code on the bag and the lot in the book drift apart.
Where this stops working
Whatever prints the code, the weak point is the step before: someone typing or setting today's code. A stamp still set to yesterday, a label typed with one digit wrong, a coder message nobody changed after lunch. Every one of those is a package whose lot code matches nothing in your records, which you find out only when a customer or a recall asks.
How TaroStack does it
TaroStack prints the lot label from the lot itself, so the code on the package is the code in the records.
Lot labels from the lot. When a batch is recorded, its finished goods get a lot code and date, and the lot label prints with the code, the item and the date, plus a GS1-128 barcode carrying the product code, the use-by date and the lot when the item has a 14-digit GTIN, or the lot code alone otherwise. Labels print on a sheet for an ordinary office printer, or as a ZPL file for a Zebra label printer. Shelf labels and item labels print the same way.
The same code all the way. The lot that prints on the label is the lot every later step uses: picking takes the oldest date first, delivery notes record which lot went to which customer, and one report traces any lot back to the supplier lots in its batch and forward to every customer who got it.
And scanning closes the loop. A scan of the lot label at picking or counting reads the lot straight back, with the phone's camera or any USB or Bluetooth scanner, and a supplier's GS1-128 case label scanned at receiving fills in its lot and use-by date. If you use a stamp or an inkjet coder for cartons, TaroStack gives you the code to set on it.
| The job | Stamp or typed label | In TaroStack |
|---|---|---|
| Today's lot code | Set by hand | From the batch, automatically |
| Barcode | None, or made elsewhere | GS1-128 with lot and date, when the item has a GTIN |
| Printer | Whatever's to hand | Office printer sheet or a Zebra (ZPL) |
| Code matches the records | Hopefully | It's the same lot |
Lots, lot labels, shelf labels and recalls are on every plan, from $49 a month; recording batches is on Standard at $99. The first 30 days are free, with no credit card. If you'd like a hand setting up, ask, and we'll do it with you.