Lot numbers at receipt: make a recall a search, not a hunt

When a manufacturer recalls a batch, the first question is simple: do we hold any of lot X, and where is it? If the lot number was recorded when the goods arrived, answering it takes minutes at a desk. If it was not, someone walks the shelves reading labels, and hopes nothing has already gone out. The difference is decided at the receiving dock, weeks or months earlier.

This article covers what to record at receipt, the habits that keep lot data accurate, and where to find it in OpenBoxes when you need it. The products and lot numbers are invented examples.

What to record for every lot#

For each product that carries a lot or batch number, record four things at receipt:

1. The lot number, exactly as printed. Copy it character for character from the manufacturer's label.
2. The expiry date. From the same label.
3. The quantity of that lot. If a delivery of 500 units contains two lots, that is two lines: for example 300 of lot A2417 and 200 of lot A2502. Never one line of 500 with one lot number.
4. Where it was put. The bin location it went to, so the quantity can be found physically, not just counted.

Receiving against the shipment or purchase order that brought the goods also records who sent them and when, which you will want for a supplier's recall notice.

Habits that keep lot data usable#

Lot data is only as good as its worst entry. The habits that matter:

• Copy, do not interpret. A2417, A-2417 and A2417 (with a trailing space) are three different lots to any search. So are the letter O and the digit 0. Keep the manufacturer's spelling, dashes and leading zeros.
• Split mixed deliveries. Count by lot, not by product. A box with two batches in it is two lines.
• Decide how to record month-only expiry dates. Some labels print only a month and year. Agree one house rule for the day you enter and apply it everywhere.
• Record at receipt, not later. The label is in your hand at the dock. Once stock is on the shelf, recording the lot means finding it again.
• Check at picking too. A quick look at the label when picking catches a lot keyed wrongly at receipt, before it goes out under the wrong number.
• Keep the paperwork. The delivery note or packing list with lot numbers is your evidence if the system and the shelf disagree.

Recording lots when you receive in OpenBoxes#

In OpenBoxes, you receive an inbound shipment from Inbound, List Inbound Movements: open the shipment and click Receive. Each line on the receiving page has a Lot/Serial No., an Expiration date and a Bin Location, next to the quantity you are receiving now.

A few checks on that page support the habits above:

• An expiry date needs a lot number. A line with an expiry date and no lot is refused with "Items with an expiry date must also have a lot number."
• Lot and expiry control. When this setting is on for a product, both fields are required for it: "Both lot number and expiry date are required for this item." Turning it on for the products you would ever need to recall is the simplest way to make sure lot data exists.
• Empty bin locations are flagged. Receiving with lines that have no bin location asks you to confirm first.

One behaviour is worth knowing before it surprises you. In OpenBoxes a lot number belongs to a product, and the lot has one expiry date. If you change the expiry date of an existing lot while receiving, OpenBoxes warns: "This will update the expiry date across all depots in the system." If a delivery arrives with a lot number you already hold but a different expiry date on the label, stop and check with the supplier. It may be a labelling error, or a different batch that was keyed with the wrong number.

The 1-minute video How to Receive Stock shows a receipt with lot numbers and expiry dates, and Receiving covers receiving and putaway in more detail.

When a recall notice arrives#

If the lot numbers were recorded, finding recalled stock is a search. In OpenBoxes, three views answer the questions a recall raises.

Which lots do we hold, and in which bins?#

The Inventory Details Report lists stock at a location by bin and lot, with the lot number, expiry date and quantity on hand. It is under Inventory, View Inventory, and under Reporting, Inventory Reports. Choose the location, click Run Report, and use Download, Download Report to get it as a file you can filter for the recalled lot number.

For a single product, its stock card shows the same thing on one screen: the In stock tab lists each lot you hold at the location with its bin location and expiry date.

What happened to that lot here?#

The stock card's Stock history has a box labelled "Filter by serial number or lot number". Filter by the recalled lot and you see every transaction for it at the location: when it was received, when stock was issued, and the origin or destination of each movement. That tells you whether any of the lot has left the location, and where it was sent.

What about our other locations?#

The views above work one location at a time. To see which of your locations hold the product at all, use the stock card's All Locations tab, or the Inventory By Location Report (in the same menus as the Inventory Details Report) for several products at once. Both show quantities per location, not per lot, so they tell you where to repeat the lot search rather than replacing it. Plan for that in your recall procedure.

What you do with the stock once you have found it (set it aside, return it to the supplier, write it off) is your recall procedure's decision. The point of recording lots at receipt is that you can start that procedure within minutes of the notice.

On OpenBoxes Lift#

Receiving works the same way on OpenBoxes Lift, because your instance is OpenBoxes. The lot data you record at receipt also feeds the optional daily stock alert email, which lists lots expiring within the window you choose, with the lot number, expiry date and quantity. Features gives an overview of what is included.

Summary#

• Record the lot number exactly, the expiry date, the quantity per lot and the bin, at the moment of receipt.
• Split deliveries by lot, and agree a rule for month-only expiry dates.
• Turn on lot and expiry control for the products you would need to recall.
• Treat a known lot number arriving with a new expiry date as a question for the supplier.
• When a recall arrives, the Inventory Details Report and the stock card's filtered Stock history find the lot at each location.