Which batch, material and production records to ask a supplier to keep, how to mark goods so a batch can be found later, and where the retailer's duty begins.
Define the batch before you define the records
Traceability starts with a decision nobody thinks to make: what counts as one batch. A production run, a material lot, a day of output and a shipment are four different boundaries, and the narrower the batch, the smaller the quantity you have to withdraw if something goes wrong. Agree the definition with the supplier, require it to be consistent, and make sure the batch identifier appears somewhere you can read it after the goods have left the factory.
- Agree what constitutes a batch: run, material lot, production day
- Narrower batches mean smaller withdrawals later
- The identifier must survive onto the goods or their packaging
The records worth asking a supplier to keep
Ask for the material certificates or supplier declarations for the batch, the component sources where a component matters, the production date and line, the operators or shift where the process is manual and quality depends on it, in-process and final inspection records, and the packing records tying cartons to batches. Specify how long they must be retained and in what form. A supplier who is asked for this after an incident will assemble something; a supplier who was asked in the purchase order will have it. The difference shows up in the dates: records created at the time carry production dates that match the batch, and reconstructed ones rarely do.
- Material certificates, component sources, production date and line
- In-process and final inspection records for the batch
- Retention period and format stated in the purchase order
Marking, so a batch can be identified later
A record only helps if you can connect it to the physical unit in front of you. Retail trade items are identified by a GTIN built from a GS1 company prefix licensed to your business, which identifies the product, not the batch — so the batch or lot code has to be carried separately, on the unit, the inner and the carton. Some markets go further: in the United States, children's products must carry a tracking label enabling the manufacturer, the location and date of production and cohort information to be determined. Treat that as a floor to design from rather than a rule that applies only to toys.
- GTIN identifies the product; a separate lot code identifies the batch
- Lot code applied at unit, inner and carton level
- Check your market's specific marking rules for the category
Test the chain before you rely on it
A traceability system that has never been exercised is a claim. Run a trace on an ordinary shipment: pick a unit, ask the supplier to produce the batch record, and see how long it takes and what is missing. Then run it the other way — given a material lot, which finished goods used it, and where did they go. Both directions matter, and the second is the one that usually fails, because most suppliers can find the records for a batch but cannot say which shipments that batch ended up in.
- Trace forwards from a unit and backwards from a material lot
- Time the exercise; slow is the same as absent during a recall
- Record what was missing and fix it before it matters
Where our part ends
We can write the traceability requirements into the specification, check at inspection that batch marking is present and legible and that the records exist in the form agreed, and photograph what we saw. We do not certify a traceability system, and we do not determine what your market requires of you — obligations fall on the retailer, importer or responsible economic operator depending on the jurisdiction, and that reading should come from your own compliance adviser.
- Requirements written into the specification and checked at inspection
- Batch marking verified as present, legible and matching the records
- The regulatory reading for your market comes from your own adviser
Authoritative references
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