The importance of lot control lies in the complete traceability of every piece of inventory that moves through your warehouse. With lot control, each piece is quick and easy to trace back to its group of origin.
Creating a lot control system
A ‘lot’ is a specific batch of goods received, stored, or shipped from your warehouse. There are many ways to organize lot batches — by expiration dates, materials used, etc. There are also several levels you can choose from to create batches, including the license plate level, the bin level, and the individual box level.
Tightening regulations
In many industries, the administrations or organizations in power are tightening regulations when it comes to recalls. Having full product traceability with tools such as RFID technology is absolutely vital to any company’s reputation and success. Recalls are catastrophic for any that do not have lot control methods in place. In the event of a recall, lot control methods supported by RFID technology make it much easier to stick to regulations.
No lot control? You’ll have to face the consequences.
Imagine your phone rings in the middle of the night. A supplier informs you that one of their products has been recalled due to an ingredient making customers ill. Panic sets in—you have no way of identifying which batch is causing the issue. You also know that if you cannot deliver a detailed report within the hour, you could face severe consequences, from damage to your brand reputation to costly fines. But what if you lack the right tools and resources to generate the report quickly?
Without proper lot control methods in place, your warehouse could be forced to recall every product nationwide, even if only a single batch is affected. Many suppliers have gone out of business for this very reason—unpreparedness during a recall. This is why lot control is critical for any organization. When combined with modern technologies like mobile device management solutions, companies gain the ability to track, monitor, and respond in real time. These solutions ensure that critical data is accessible anywhere, anytime, empowering teams to act fast during a crisis and protecting businesses from devastating losses.
Lot Control is vital for:
Recalls — If your company has cloud-based lot control built into its warehouse management system (WMS), it will be able to identify problem batches almost immediately. This allows you to reach out and halt specific product sales and saves you time, stress, and your company’s reputation.
Expiration Dates — Lot control is also essential regarding the expiration dates of food, beverage, and pharmaceutical products. Tracking your lots by expiration date will assist your company in the timely distribution of goods from your warehouse. It also makes it easy to identify, pull, and discard expired products.
Lot control is the key to safeguarding not only customer health, but also your company’s reputation, pocketbook, and business. The bottom line is that if your company cannot provide full traceability for each and every one of the items that flows through the warehouse, then it is at a risk for huge fines, and even the possibility of being put out of business permanently.
Integrating lot control into your WMS will efficiently solve the problem. When a recall happens, you’ll feel secure in the knowledge that your WMS can call up the necessary report immediately so that your business can survive, and even thrive.
Also read – Food Safety: The Importance of Lot Tracing in the Supply Chain
