Batch tracking means recording, for every batch you make, which lots of ingredients and packaging went into it, how much good product came out, and where every unit of it went. The batch code printed on the label is what ties those records together, so any batch can be traced back to its ingredients and forward to its customers. That's what keeps a recall small: you pull the batches that used the bad lot, not everything you've made, and you know who has them. In the example below, a supplier recalls one lot of coconut milk, and batch tracking narrows it to two batches, 84 packs and three shops, in a few minutes. Without it, the same recall reaches five batches and every customer since the lot arrived. Below is what a batch record holds, the example traced both ways, how batch tracking differs from lot tracking, and how to set it up.
The short version
- Batch tracking links each batch to the lots that went in and the customers who got it.
- The batch code on every unit is the key; without it on the label, the records can't be used.
- Record ingredient lots when they arrive, and again when they go into a batch, mixed lots included.
- Record which batch went on every order, so the forward trace doesn't mean reading every invoice.
- A batch becomes a lot of finished product; lot tracking covers what you buy as well as what you make.
- Practice a trace before you need one, and time it.
- TaroStack notes the lots in every batch automatically and traces any lot in one report. More below.
What a batch record holds
| What's recorded | Example | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| Batch code | KUL-1010-1 | Ties the label on every pack to these records |
| Recipe and version | Kūlolo, version 3 | What should have gone in |
| Ingredient lots used | Taro T-1009; coconut milk CM-2231 and CM-2240 | The trace back to suppliers |
| Packaging lots | Trays TR-0920 | A packaging problem is traced the same way |
| Made on, by | October 10, Leilani | Who to ask |
| Checks | Cook temperature, sign-off | Shows the process was followed |
| Made and good | 48 planned, 42 good | What there is to find |
| Best-by date | October 17 | When it leaves the shelf |
| Where it went | Mānoa Grocer 12, Kailua Natural 12, market 10 | The trace forward |
The batch record itself, with a filled-in example, is in what is a batch record.
A worked example: one lot of coconut milk
Windward Roots, the made-up taro business I use in these examples, receives 24 cans of coconut milk on October 3, the supplier's lot CM-2231. Kūlolo takes 16 cans a batch. Batch KUL-1006-1 uses 16 cans from the lot, and batch KUL-1010-1 uses the last 8, plus 8 from the next delivery, lot CM-2240. On October 15 the supplier recalls lot CM-2231.
| Batch | Cans from CM-2231 | Good packs | Where they went | Still on hand |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| KUL-1006-1 | 16 | 42 | Kaimukī Market 12, Mānoa Grocer 12, Saturday market 18 | 0 |
| KUL-1010-1 | 8 | 42 | Mānoa Grocer 12, Kailua Natural 12, Saturday market 10 | 8 |
| Affected | 24 | 84 | 3 shops, 2 market days | 8 |
Batch KUL-1003-1, made the day the lot arrived, used the last of the previous lot, and KUL-1013-1 and KUL-1015-1 used only CM-2240, so all three stay on sale. The answer takes minutes because each batch record says which coconut milk went in, and each delivery says which batch went out. The 8 packs still on hand go on hold, the three shops get a call, and the market stall gets a notice for the customers no list can reach.
Without batch tracking, the honest answer is "anything made since October 3": five batches, 210 packs and every customer. How to tell those customers is in how to write a recall letter.
The trace works backward too. A customer at Kailua Natural calls about a pack from KUL-1010-1, and the record names the taro lot, both coconut milk lots and the sugar, so the question goes to the right supplier.
Batch tracking vs lot tracking
The words overlap, and plenty of people use them for the same thing. When they're used carefully, a lot is any quantity with one code and one history, bought or made, and a batch is one production run. A batch becomes a lot of finished product the moment it's made. Lot tracking covers both ends, the ingredients you buy and the products you sell; batch tracking is the production link in the middle that connects them. How the codes differ is in batch number vs lot number, and the wider picture is in what is lot tracking.
How to set it up
- Give every batch a code and print it on every unit. A date-based code works: how to create lot numbers.
- Record every ingredient's lot when it arrives: the supplier's lot code, the date and how much.
- On the batch record, write the lot of every ingredient and packaging item used, both lots when two go in.
- Record what came out good, and the best-by date.
- Record which batch went on every order and delivery, and which went to the market.
- Practice: pick a lot and time how long it takes to find every batch and customer. How is in mock recall and traceability exercise.
Where this stops working
On paper, batch tracking depends on copying lot codes by hand, twice: once from the case to the receiving log, once from the receiving log to the batch sheet. At three batches a week that's 150 batch sheets a year, and the trace forward means reading every invoice for a batch code. The mixed-lot batch, where the last 8 cans of one lot and the first 8 of the next went in together, is the one that gets written down as one lot, and it's the one a recall finds.
How TaroStack does it
TaroStack records the lots as the work happens, so the trace is a report, not a search.
Lots in, from the label. Receiving records the supplier's lot and dates, and scanning a supplier's GS1-128 case label fills them in. Every lot keeps its own dates and cost.
Batches that note their own lots. Recording a batch takes each ingredient from the lots used, first-expired-first-out by default, and notes them on the batch automatically, two lots when two went in. The good units go into a finished lot with its code and best-by date, and lot labels print with a GS1-128 barcode. Batch record forms carry your own fields, like cook temperature and sign-off.
And one report, both ways. A recall report walks any supplier lot forward to every batch and customer who got it, with contact details and what's still on your shelves, and back from any finished lot to its ingredients. Timed, logged traceability drills show how fast you can do it.
| The job | Paper | In TaroStack |
|---|---|---|
| Lots in each batch | Copied by hand | Noted automatically, mixed lots too |
| Which batches used a lot | Read every batch sheet | One report |
| Who got those batches | Read every invoice | The same report, with contacts |
| What's still on hand | Go and count | Stock by lot, on hold in one step |
Lots, batches, batch records, recalls and drills are on every plan, from $49 a month. 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.