Warehouse software for food and frozen goods: lots, expiry dates and FEFO

November 3, 2026 · 7 min read

A food warehouse cannot be run like a spare-parts warehouse. Every carton has a lot and a date, and a mistake is not just a stock error: it is expired goods at a customer's, or a lot that has to be recalled and nobody knows where it is.

The essentials

→Lot and expiry date captured at receiving, on every carton or pallet.
→FEFO picking: what expires first leaves first, not what arrived first.
→Alerts for what is about to expire, so it can be moved out in time.
→Traceability: which lot each order was picked from and which customer it went to.
→Blocking a lot in one click if there is a quality problem.

Dry, chilled and frozen

Many warehouses have several zones or several buildings depending on temperature. What matters is that each item is only put away in the zone it belongs to and that the system never suggests a wrong bin.

→Separate zones or buildings in the same system.
→Product families that do not share a bin.
→Stock per warehouse and in total, at the same time.

Recalling a lot without drama

If a supplier warns of a problem with a lot, you need to know within minutes where the remainder is and who the rest was shipped to. With the lot recorded on every movement, the search is immediate: bins holding that lot and orders that carried it.

How Ubika does it

In Ubika each item can carry a lot and an expiry date, picking is ordered by FEFO and the PDA only lets the operator take the right lot. A lot is blocked in one click and the affected orders stay on hold until it is resolved. FIFO, FEFO and LIFO explained.

Keep reading

What Ubika does: warehouse management software · software for 3PLs · WMS for e-commerce