Lot Number Management
Full lot traceability from receiving to finished goods.
Every lot in your facility gets a searchable, trackable record. From the moment material arrives to the moment finished product ships, you know exactly where every lot is and what happened to it. This is not just a lot number field — it is a complete traceability chain.
Link lots to QR codes, production records, and shipping documentation for complete chain-of-custody. When a customer calls about a quality issue, you can trace their product back to the specific lot, the production run, the ingredients used, and the vendor who supplied them — in seconds, not hours.
Most beverage software treats lot numbers as a simple text field. CatOps treats them as first-class records with full lifecycle management: status tracking, usage history, vendor linkage, cost tracking, and connections to every transaction that touches them.
Capabilities
Searchable lot database
Keyword search and filter by item, location, date, status, or vendor.
Search across all lots with instant results. Filter by status (active, depleted, on hold), date range, vendor, item, or location. Sort newest to oldest or by any column. Results are paginated so performance stays fast even with thousands of lots.
Full history
Track every movement, adjustment, and usage for each lot.
Every transaction that touches a lot is recorded: receiving, moves, adjustments, production usage, shipping, quality holds, and depletion. The lot history view shows a chronological timeline with user, timestamp, quantity change, and reason.
QR integration
Link lots directly to QR codes for instant floor-level lookup.
Assign a QR code to a lot, and anyone on the floor can scan it to see the full lot record: current stock, location, status, vendor, cost, and history. No more walking to a computer or asking a supervisor.
Vendor tracking
See which vendor supplied each lot, with cost tracking.
Each lot links to a vendor record. See all lots from a specific vendor, track vendor performance, and compare costs across vendors. This data feeds into procurement decisions and vendor management.
Production links
Connect lots to manufacture orders, batch sheets, and bottling runs.
When a lot is used in production, the link is automatic. Trace a finished product back to the specific ingredient lots used, the batch sheet that recorded the formulation, and the bottling run that packaged it. This is the traceability that auditors and regulators expect.
Shipping documentation
Reference lots on outgoing shipments for full traceability.
When product ships, the lot numbers are recorded on the shipment. If a recall or quality issue arises, you can identify exactly which customers received which lots — in minutes, not days. With spreadsheets, this kind of trace-back can take hours or be impossible.
Status management
Track lot status: active, on hold, depleted, or destroyed.
Lot status drives workflow. On-hold lots cannot be used in production or shipped. Depleted lots are retained for history but excluded from active views. Destroyed lots are documented with reason and approval.
Lot-level reservations
Reserve specific lots for production runs.
When a manufacture order requires specific lots (e.g., a particular vendor's ingredient), those lots can be reserved. The reservation prevents other orders from consuming the same lots. This eliminates the double-allocation problem that plagues spreadsheet-based systems.
Why CatOps is different
Vs. Spreadsheets
Spreadsheet lot tracking means manual log sheets, no search capability, and no connection to production or shipping records. Trace-backs take hours of digging through tabs and files. CatOps makes it a 10-second search.
Vs. Generic Inventory Software
Generic tools treat lot numbers as a text field on an item record. There is no lot history, no lot-level cost tracking, no lot-to-production links, and no lot-level QR assignment. CatOps treats lots as first-class records with full lifecycle management.
Vs. Other Beverage Software
Some beverage software has lot tracking, but it is often limited to a lot number field and a status dropdown. CatOps provides full traceability chains, QR integration, vendor linkage, and production connections that other systems charge extra for or do not offer at all.
How this reduces labor and errors
Lot trace-back for customer inquiry
Dig through spreadsheet tabs, production logs, and shipping records to find which lot went to which customer
Search the lot number in CatOps, see full history including shipment destination in 10 seconds
Lot status updates
Manually update a spreadsheet column and hope everyone sees the latest version
Change status in CatOps, instantly visible to all users, system prevents use of on-hold lots automatically
Lot-to-production linking
Manually record lot numbers on production sheets, hope they are accurate
Lots are automatically linked when used in production — no manual entry, no errors
Vendor lot research
Search vendor invoices and spreadsheets to find what was received from a vendor
Filter lots by vendor in CatOps, see all lots, costs, and status instantly
Common Questions
How many lots can the system handle?
There is no hard limit. Pagination keeps page loads fast regardless of lot count. Operations with tens of thousands of lots run smoothly.
Can I reuse lot numbers?
Lot numbers are unique per item. The system prevents duplicate lot numbers for the same product, but lot references can exist across different products.
Can I do a mock recall?
Yes. Search a lot number, see every shipment that included it, and identify affected customers. This is the same workflow as a real recall but without the urgency.
Want to see Lot Number Management in action?
Request a demo and we'll walk you through how it works for your operation.
Request a Demo