Recording Lot Codes for Traceability

We are a bakery here in the US. We have recorded lot codes of all ingredients on our bakers sheets for the past several years per traceability requirements. Our procedure is to have the bakers do this as they mix. The bakers manually write these down as they mix. Often they get behind in the recording of the numbers as they struggle to stay up with the depositing line. This is also a struggle for the bakers who are in training as they struggle with learning the skills of being a mixer, coupled with the speed of the line and the need to write down all the codes. Sometimes a person who is totally capable of being a good mixer, is let go because they struggle with keeping up with lot recording. Some of our formulas can have up to 20 ingredients and the lot codes are cumbersome to record.
Perhaps someone out there has encountered this issue and tackled it a different manner than we are. I know there are software programs and production station recording devices that can be used but we really aren't in a position to do that. Looking for some ideas that may have worked for my forum colleagues.
Thanks,
Bill

I also work in a bakery and we separate the processes. The only things our bakers weigh out is the yeast; flour is automatically weighed (and trace recorded elsewhere) so the other minor ingredients are all in tubs weighed to a recipe and dated. All the baker then has to write down is that date. I haven't worked in other bakeries but I've worked in ready meals and this concept is used there for sauces. The sauce maker does not weigh out the ingredients themselves, it's inefficient and leads to mistakes.

So could you do that? A fundamental change to your process but might be worth a try, it might also increase efficiency on your mixing and moulding plants?

Could the lot numbers be noted on a master during the staging process and then simply checked off by the mixers?

Perhaps you could have the person(s) that receive raw materials assign internal lot numbers to replace (while being cross-referenced to) the manufacturers lot number. A four digit number based on the julian date would suffice. This would simplify lot number recording on your dough sheets.

GMO's suggestion is certainly a good one, but as he mentions, may be a fundamental change to your process.

Marshall

I work in a small wholesale bakery and we keep a "master lot code list" that is updated daily. Each morning, an employee records all the lot codes that will be used for that day's mixing and it is filed. In the event that a mixer uses more than one lot code in a day, we log the time that the new lot was used and the code.

I too work in a bakery and have seperate processes.
The bulk of recording lot numbers is done in weigh up where mixes are put into bins. The only numbers being recorded at the depositer is anything to do with the fillings.

We are a bakery here in the US. We have recorded lot codes of all ingredients on our bakers sheets for the past several years per traceability requirements. Our procedure is to have the bakers do this as they mix. The bakers manually write these down as they mix. Often they get behind in the recording of the numbers as they struggle to stay up with the depositing line. This is also a struggle for the bakers who are in training as they struggle with learning the skills of being a mixer, coupled with the speed of the line and the need to write down all the codes. Sometimes a person who is totally capable of being a good mixer, is let go because they struggle with keeping up with lot recording. Some of our formulas can have up to 20 ingredients and the lot codes are cumbersome to record.
Perhaps someone out there has encountered this issue and tackled it a different manner than we are. I know there are software programs and production station recording devices that can be used but we really aren't in a position to do that. Looking for some ideas that may have worked for my forum colleagues.
Thanks,
Bill

Bill

I do not know how you trace the stuf right know. The way it works for me is that I whenever I start a new batch I write down the date/and time in an excel sheet. Every batch produced onthis date and beyond must have this ingredient if it is in the recipe. So for tracing back you are searching for the ingredient, then you write down the date of this batch and the dat of the next batch. All batches with this ingredient have to have the traced batch. This means you do not have to write it down every time.
It works for us. We are audited for BRC en IFS so it should work for you as well

cheesyhead

We have masters for bulk items such as flour silos, divider oils etc which are tied into the goods-in procedure. Bakers start their shift 5 minutes early and record traceability of all raw ingredients on a seperate sheet. All they then have to record for every mix is mix number, temperature of dough, flour silo number, sieve integrity etc. If they change batches during a shift (we try to minimise this as much as possible by buying raw materials in bulk so changes are rare - perhaps weekly) they must record the time of changeover (for product recall purposes) and new traceability codes. Works on our scale, but I accept it may have its limitations when scaled up to larger facilities.

They still moan constantly about the amount of paperwork they have to do though. I might send them over to you for a week, Bill!

We use the exact same system at our facility. The work is shared though... our filling chefs record the filling mix (~12 items at the high end), the pastry chefs record the pastry details (~5 items for puff and base pastry), and the pie machine operators record the batch details and garnish (~5 items).

We have our paperwork set up in stations around the factory, which ends up being a lot of paper but the work is well distributed.
Are your forms all per-populated with the product details and recipes so that workers are only writing codes? Or are they writing the product name and supplier details too?

I'd love to see the computer / batch code scanner implemented too it would make life easier for everyone (especially me)... @ $100 000 to implement + training and on-going costs our business is quite far off, especially after the cap-ex we spent just getting to BRC 5 C Grade!!!

Thanks to everyone who gave their insight and suggestions! This forum is so helpful!
Bill