Traceability from goods-in to dispatch: lot, serial number and expiry
Traceability is not built when a complaint arrives, but at receiving. What is recorded when stock comes in, how a lot is followed forwards and backwards, and what travels with the parcel on the way out.
In short
- Traceability starts at receiving: lot, serial number, expiry and quality status are recorded then, by hand or from the Excel order import.
- Item rules decide what is mandatory, including the serial number format and the minimum remaining shelf life at receipt and at issue.
- An incoming lot is traced forward to manufactured items, and a production lot backwards to raw materials and source documents.
- The item card and transfer history show every movement, with location, container and worker.
- On the way out, serial numbers are assigned at packing, and a warranty card goes with the parcel.
Short answer: traceability in a warehouse is created at the moment of receipt, not when a complaint arrives. In NG WMS the lot, serial number, expiry date and quality status are entered at receiving or come in with the Excel order import. Every later movement leaves a record on the item card and in the transfer history. An incoming lot is traced forward to manufactured items, a production lot backwards to raw materials, and on the way out serial numbers are assigned at packing.
Goods-in: what is recorded when stock arrives
A receipt order carries lines with a lot, serial number and expiry date. When orders come from another system, the Excel import also accepts columns for lot, production date, expiry, quality status, serial numbers and country of origin, so none of that is retyped by hand.
What is mandatory is decided by the item. For each item you set:
- whether a lot is mandatory;
- the serial number format — length, prefix and suffix;
- shelf life in days;
- the minimum remaining shelf life at receipt and at issue.
Receiving also has a dedicated serial number view, alongside announced, summary and received lines. More on receiving on the Inbound page.
Inside: every movement is recorded
The item card shows every movement in order: warehouse, position, container, document type and document, quantity, date, worker and status. The transfer history can be filtered by container, item, location or warehouse type and shows the from and to locations and who moved the stock. The audit log follows every document.
Quality status and expiry
The quality status entered at receipt stays with the stock. Stock that is blocked or awaiting a quality decision is not offered as a candidate for manual wave reservation, and blocking and unblocking are handled as a document with lines and a reason. For expiry, each item has a minimum remaining shelf life at issue and an issue rule — FEFO, for example, where stock with the nearest expiry date leaves first.
Two directions of traceability
| Question | Report | What it shows |
|---|---|---|
| Where did an incoming lot end up? | incoming lot traceability | receipts, delivery notes to production and manufactured items |
| What was a product made from? | production lot traceability | source documents and consumed raw materials |
| Where has an item moved? | item card | every movement with location, container and worker |
| Who moved a container? | transfer history | from and to location, worker |
When a lot has to be recalled, these two directions produce the list from records rather than memory. An example: if an incoming raw-material lot was issued to production on two delivery notes, the forward report shows both delivery notes and the manufactured items, and the backward report for each of those products returns the same incoming lot.
Dispatch: what goes with the parcel
At the control and packing station lines are scanned and confirmed, and serial numbers are assigned at packing. A warranty card can go with the parcel, and the shipping label carries an SSCC. Label and document templates are described on the Labels page.
Where the trail ends
Traceability in the WMS covers stock and documents that pass through the warehouse. What happens to the goods before receipt and after dispatch is visible in the ERP and with your partners. That is why accurate receiving matters: a lot or serial number not recorded on the way in cannot be found on the way out.
All traceability, productivity and audit reports are on the Reports and traceability page.
Frequently asked questions
Does traceability work for serialised stock too?
Yes. Serial numbers are recorded at receipt, have their own view on the receipt order and are assigned at packing on the way out. The serial number format is set per item.
How do I find where a single lot went?
The incoming lot traceability report starts from the receipt and follows the lot through delivery notes to production, to the manufactured items. The reverse report for a finished product returns the source documents and consumed raw materials.
Can the lot and expiry date come from an order import?
Yes. The Excel receipt order import accepts columns for lot, production date, expiry, quality status, serial numbers and country of origin.
What if no lot is entered at receipt?
Then it is missing from every later report too. That is why each item can make the lot mandatory and set the minimum remaining shelf life stock must have at receipt.
Want to see how this would look in your warehouse?
In a demo we walk through your receiving, picking and dispatch in NG WMS and show how NG Copilot supports your warehouse team.