Plans, resources, company information, and legal documents.
If your products expire or need to be traceable to a batch, the rules change at the receiving step. Here's what lot tracking does and who actually needs it.
For a lot of operations, an item is just an item: you have some quantity of SKU X and that's all you need to know. But for food, beverage, pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, agriculture, and chemicals, that's not enough. You need to know which batch a unit came from and when it expires. That changes how the warehouse works, starting at the dock.
What lot tracking actually records
With lot tracking on, receiving captures more than a quantity. Instead of "we received 200 units of SKU X," the operator records "200 units of SKU X, lot 24-A19, expiring November 4." That lot identity then travels with the product through every later step — putaway, count, pick, ship. If a lot is ever recalled, you can trace exactly which orders contained units from it instead of guessing or pulling everything.
FEFO: the pick rule that pairs with it
FEFO stands for first-expired-first-out. When several lots of the same item are available, the pick recommender routes the operator to the one expiring soonest, so the oldest stock ships first and less product expires on the shelf. The operator doesn't have to track expiration dates in their head — the system sends them to the right bin.
Expiration alerts round it out, warning operations leads as dates approach. Sensible thresholds differ wildly by category — a two-week window means something very different for fresh produce than for a shelf-stable reagent — so they're configurable.
It isn't free, and it isn't for everyone
Lot tracking adds a field at receiving, and someone has to enter the right lot every time. If your suppliers don't print lot numbers, you have to invent and apply your own conventions — workable, but a real change to the receiving workflow. If your inventory turns over in days, expiration is effectively implicit and the overhead may not be worth it.
Our stance is simple: the operations that need lot tracking really need it, so it's there and it's thorough. We're not going to push it on operations that don't.