About material lot tracking

Learn about how to track and manage your material lots in Craftybase


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What is a lot number?

A lot number is an identification number assigned to a particular quantity or lot of material. 

This can be either a code provided to you by the vendor of the material or can be of your own creation. Lot numbers are useful for GMP and traceability as they can provide a full audit trail between your material purchases and the products you sell.

Lot number tracking is available in our INDIE+ plans.


The following diagram shows an overview of how traceability can be achieved using lot numbers in conjunction with manufacture batch records:

Lot numbers can be entered whenever a new batch of materials is purchased. This can be achieved via the Add Purchase Item form. In the example below, the Lot Number for this purchase of a single jar of Coconut Oil is 23432DP:

Lot numbers can then be added as part of the manufacture process for each material used. This then provides a direct link between your purchase history and your manufacture history. Continuing the example above, the Coconut Oil material is added to the manufacture for a soap product with the Lot Number of 23432DP to indicate that this particular batch was used in this manufacture:

Finally, order line items can be associated with manufactures, which provides your link between manufactures and orders (see  How do I link a manufacture with an order line item? for more details on this process).

The Material Traceability Report can then be used to create a full traceability summary of material usage, displaying all purchases, manufactures, and orders that have involved a particular lot of a material.


Adding a lot number for a material

Lot numbers can be added to each material in a purchase. When the purchase is saved, the lot number will then be associated with the material.

It is also possible to add lot numbers for materials that aren't directly related to a purchase. This is handy for situations where stock is brought forward into Craftybase as part of a starting adjustment.


To add a lot number for a material:

  1. Navigate to the material's detail page
  2. Click on the Lots tab
  3. On the page that appears, click on the Add Lot button in the top right corner
  4. Enter the lot number, assignment date, and any notes on the form that appears. You can also include an expiry date and archived date to help keep track of when a lot will expire, and should be removed from your Lot Selection lists.
  5. Click the Save button

Assigning a lot number to a manufacture

Lot numbers can be added as part of the manufacture process for each material used. This then provides a direct link between your purchase history and your manufacture history.

To assign a lot number to a Manufacture:

  1. Create a new manufacture for a product
  2. On the form that appears, add the materials used to make the product
  3. For each material in the list, select the lot number used for each material via the dropdown box that appears. If the lot number does not appear in this list, you will need to add it either via a purchase or manually via the material lots form.

Archiving a material lot number

To archive a material lot:

  1. Navigate to your material's lots page ( How do I view all lots for a material?)
  2. Click on the lot you wish to archive from the list that appears
  3. Click the Edit button
  4. On the form that appears, select a date for the field called Archived Date
  5. Click Save

Locating all lot numbers for a material

To view all lot numbers entered for a material:

  1. Navigate to the material's detail page
  2. Click on the Lots tab

Setting expiry dates for a material lot

To set an expiry date for a material lot:

  1. Navigate to your material page
  2. Click the Lots tab
  3. Select the lot you wish to add the expiry date for (or add a new Lot)
  4. Set the date of expiry in the field called Expiry Date
  5. Click Save

Finding all products made from a specific material lot

The  Material Traceability Report can then be used to create a full traceability summary of material usage, displaying all purchases, manufactures and orders that have involved a particular lot of a material.

This feature is available in our INDIE and above plans.

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