Batch traceability in the warehouse: what to record and how to locate a batch in a recall

November 13, 2026 · 7 min read

Batch traceability is put to the test on one particular day: the day a supplier reports that a batch has turned out badly. That day only two questions matter: how much is left in the building and who the rest was sent to. If the warehouse can answer them in minutes, it has traceability; if it has to go through delivery notes, it does not. This article explains what has to be recorded at each step to be able to answer them, how a batch is located in a recall and when you need a serial number instead of a batch.

What batch traceability in the warehouse is

A batch is a set of units of the same item produced under the same conditions, which the manufacturer marks with a single code. Batch traceability means not losing that code inside the warehouse: knowing which receipt each batch came from, which bins it has been in and which orders it has gone out in.

People usually talk about two directions. Backward: given a batch, knowing which supplier and which receipt it came from. Forward: given a batch, knowing which clients or recipients it has reached. The warehouse is the point where the two meet, and that is why it is where the chain breaks if the batch is not recorded.

In food it is not optional: European rules require being able to identify who a product was received from and who it was delivered to (Regulation (EC) No 178/2002, Article 18). In other sectors it is required by their own rules or directly by the client. What a food warehouse needs as a whole is in warehouse software for food and frozen goods.

What to record at receiving, in storage and at dispatch

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Step	What is recorded	What happens if it is missing
Receiving	Item, batch, expiry date if it has one, quantity, supplier, date and inbound document	The batch does not exist for the software: there is nothing to follow
Put-away	Which bin each batch is left in	You know the batch is in the building, but not where
Internal movements	Every change of bin, replenishment or block, with its batch	The batch shows in a bin where it no longer is
Picking	Which batch and what quantity was picked for each order	You do not know who it was sent to
Return	Which batch the unit goes back into stock with	It goes back mixed with another batch

How to record the batch at receiving

It all starts at the dock. If the batch is not captured at receiving, there is no way to recover it later without opening boxes. Three things make sure it is always captured:

→The item is marked as “batch-tracked” in its record, so that the software does not let it be received without one.
→The batch is read from the barcode on the box and not typed. Many manufacturers print on the box a GS1 code that carries the item, the batch and the expiry date in a single scan.
→A receipt with two batches of the same item is recorded as two lines, each with its quantity, and not as one.

The batch that counts is the manufacturer's, the one printed on the product. Inventing a different internal batch forces you to keep a table of equivalences that nobody looks at on the day it is needed.

How to store goods without losing the batch

In storage, traceability depends on stock being kept by bin and by batch at the same time: not “there are 400 units of the item”, but “there are 250 of batch A in this bin and 150 of batch B in this other one”.

The safest thing is not to mix two batches of the same item in one bin. When they are mixed, the picker has to read the batch on each box to pick the right one, and sooner or later picks the other. In drive-in racks, where only the front pallet comes out, mixing batches in a lane traps the oldest one. And every change of bin has to be done with a scan, because a pallet moved “for a moment” without recording it is exactly the one that does not turn up on the day of the recall.

How to record the batch at dispatch

At dispatch there are two decisions: which batch goes out and how it is checked. The first is set by the outbound rule: the batch that expires first (FEFO) or the one that came in first (FIFO), explained in FIFO, FEFO and LIFO. The second is the scan: the software sends the picker to a specific bin and batch, and the picker confirms by scanning.

What closes the chain is the batch being recorded on the order. Without that line —order, item, batch, quantity— you know the batch went out, but not to whom. It is the half of traceability most often forgotten and the one most needed in a recall.

How to locate a batch in a recall

When the notice arrives, the order of work is this:

→Identify the exact item and batch stated by the supplier or the authority.
→Block what is left in the building so that it does not go out in any more orders, before doing anything else.
→Check whether there are orders half picked with that batch and stop them.
→Pull the list of orders it has already gone out in, with recipient, date and quantity.
→Notify the owner of the goods with that list. At a third-party logistics provider, the one who notifies the consumer is the client, not the warehouse.
→Physically set aside what is blocked and decide with the supplier what to do: return it, destroy it or release it if it was a false alarm.

The proof that traceability works is doing this exercise cold, with any batch, and making the numbers match: what came in of that batch has to equal what is left plus what went out plus what was written off. If it does not match, there are unrecorded movements. Blocking and how it is resolved are explained in warehouse quality control with a PDA.

Batch or serial number: how they differ

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	Batch	Serial number
What it identifies	A group of identical units	A single unit
Where it is used	Food, drinks, cosmetics, chemicals	Electronics, machinery, items with an individual warranty
What is scanned	The batch of the box or of the line	Each unit, one by one
What it answers	Who has this batch reached?	Who was this unit sold to?
Work it adds	Little: one scan per line	More: one scan per unit at receiving and at dispatch

They are not mutually exclusive, but it is worth asking only for what is needed. Tracking serial numbers on an item that does not need them multiplies the scans and gives nothing in return; not tracking batches on one that expires leaves the warehouse without an answer on the day of the notice.

How we do it at Ubika

In Ubika you mark in each item's record whether it is tracked by batch, with an expiry date or by serial number. With that, receiving does not let the goods in without their batch, their date or their serial number. On the PDA, the GS1 code on the box fills in the batch and the expiry date when it is scanned.

Stock is kept by client, bin and batch. At put-away, the PDA proposes the bin, and in buildings set up as drive-in each lane holds a single batch. At picking, the PDA says which batch to pick —the one that expires first— and, if the workflow requires it, does not let you confirm without scanning the batch; with serial numbers, the one on each unit is scanned. Returned goods that go back into stock do so with their batch and their expiry date.

Every movement stays in the movement history with its date, type, bin, reference, who did it and, when it has them, its batch and its serial number; you can search by either. The box locator searches by batch and shows which bins it is in.

For a recall there are two ways in. On the expiry dates screen, “Withdraw batch” makes the batch stop going out in orders and leaves it in quarantine. In quality control the whole batch is blocked in a single operation: before you confirm, the software says how many units and which bins are affected. Then you decide whether it is released, returned to the supplier, reworked or written off as shrinkage.

You can ask for the demo with your data or first see what it does in warehouse management software and, if you store other people's goods, in software for third-party logistics providers.

Frequently asked questions

What is batch traceability?

It is being able to reconstruct the path of each batch of an item: which receipt it came from, which bins it has been in and which orders it has gone out in. For that, the batch is recorded at receiving and carried through every movement until dispatch.

What is a batch?

It is a set of units of the same item manufactured or packed under the same conditions, which the manufacturer identifies with a single code. If one unit of the batch has a problem, the others are assumed to be at risk of having it too.

What do you have to record to have traceability in the warehouse?

At receiving: item, batch, expiry date if it has one, quantity, supplier and date. In storage: which bin each batch is in and every change of bin. At dispatch: which batch and what quantity went to each order.

What is the difference between a batch and a serial number?

The batch identifies a group of identical units; the serial number, a single unit. Batches are used in food, cosmetics or chemicals; serial numbers, in electronics and in items with an individual warranty.

How do you locate a batch in a recall?

You search for the batch and answer two questions: what is left in the warehouse and in which bins, to block it, and which orders it has gone out in, to notify whoever received it. With the batch recorded on every movement, it is a query; without it, it means going through delivery notes by hand.

Is batch traceability mandatory?

It depends on the sector. In food, the European Union requires being able to identify who a product was received from and who it was delivered to (Regulation (EC) No 178/2002, Article 18). In other sectors it is required by their own rules or by the client. Check the one that applies to your product.

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