Worked scenario
Which customers received batch 4417
Traceability is not a records exercise until the hour it becomes urgent, and then it is the only thing that matters.
4 min read
A quality issue is identified in a specific batch. The question is immediate and narrow: who received it, and how much is still in the supply chain.
Reconstruction takes too long
Assembling the answer from production sheets and dispatch notes is possible and slow. In a recall, hours matter — both for public safety and for the scope of the withdrawal, which widens with every hour of uncertainty.
Both directions
Forward, from batch to customer. Backward, from batch to the raw material lots it used, because a raw material problem affects every batch that used it and those may be spread across weeks.
Test it before you need it
A mock recall — picking a batch at random and tracing it — is the only way to know whether the system works. Manufacturers who run them regularly find gaps in circumstances where finding gaps is cheap.
What changes
- Batch recorded against every dispatch line, per customer
- Forward trace from batch to customer in minutes, not hours
- Backward trace from batch to raw material lot
- Mock recall run periodically rather than assumed to work
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