5 replies to this topic

[qad2019]

Hi All,

 

We ship most of our products direct to consumers in small quantities but up to 6000 orders per day.  I've never dealt with this amount of direct shipments and am wondering if anyone has ideas on how to maintain traceability?  Our shipping system can track the individual consumer by day but if we switch a lot number in the middle of the day, we lose complete traceability for that lot.  In an actual recall event, we would be pulling back extra days worth of product to ensure everyone is notified but I'm not sure how I justify this when the requirement for traceability is 99.5%-101.5% recovery.  Any advice is appreciated!  Thanks!

[Fred73]

I'm not sure I understand how your system is setup right now, so you can track by customer and shipping # but not for lot? , OK, I would say you have to find a way to include the lot # as a 3rd way to track product, otherwise you will have to do a recall by "production day" and then be taking extras days, I think you should get always over 100% recovery right?

[qad2019]

I'm not sure I understand how your system is setup right now, so you can track by customer and shipping # but not for lot? , OK, I would say you have to find a way to include the lot # as a 3rd way to track product, otherwise you will have to do a recall by "production day" and then be taking extras days, I think you should get always over 100% recovery right?

 

Right, we are currently able to track lots to the day but not to each specific order.  In the event of a recall, we would have to recall a whole day of shipping - even those customers which received the second lot number used during that day because we wouldn't be able to tell the difference within a single day.  Management has decided this is an acceptable cost during a recall but I'm not sure how that works with a traceability exercise during an audit as we would be way over on recovery.  

[SQFconsultant]

I had a client that had the same issue - their's was a a manual system, but still they were shipping upwards of 5,000 packages a day.

 

They had 20 different types of protein bars and outside of wholesale bulk orders they also a retail operations via eCommerce.

 

Their solution was an excel spreadsheet (at first) and a continuing sequence number as lot numbers were added, they would record them at the top and the sequence numbers would continue underneath each heading - each invidual bar wrapper had their own seq number.

 

The seq number was printed right under the expiration date that was inkjeted onto the wrapper at the end of the packaging line.

 

It worked out well and then one day they had a recall, due to a new type of packaging that developed pinholes.

 

They were able to isolate the lots involved and the sequence numbers and then contact each and every consumer with a notice of recall along with an automatic replacement that was shipped out.

 

Today, they are a bit more automated at about 20,000 ships a day.

[qad2019]

I had a client that had the same issue - their's was a a manual system, but still they were shipping upwards of 5,000 packages a day.

 

They had 20 different types of protein bars and outside of wholesale bulk orders they also a retail operations via eCommerce.

 

Their solution was an excel spreadsheet (at first) and a continuing sequence number as lot numbers were added, they would record them at the top and the sequence numbers would continue underneath each heading - each invidual bar wrapper had their own seq number.

 

The seq number was printed right under the expiration date that was inkjeted onto the wrapper at the end of the packaging line.

 

It worked out well and then one day they had a recall, due to a new type of packaging that developed pinholes.

 

They were able to isolate the lots involved and the sequence numbers and then contact each and every consumer with a notice of recall along with an automatic replacement that was shipped out.

 

Today, they are a bit more automated at about 20,000 ships a day.

 

Thank you, Glenn.  So they listed out every order number in an excel sheet and recorded the lot numbers for each order?  I wonder what kind of system they have now... 

[LostMyMind]

Ideally, from an IT perspective, you would solve this in your ordering system, so that it just becomes part of your processes. I don't know what systems you use, but basically when your pick/pack your order, you should scan for lot, as well as, part number.  That then becomes an attribute in your ERP system that could be queried against.  It typically is a second bar code that is scanned.  If you think of a computer, someone would scan the part number, but then also scan the serial number for that unit, so it can be traced.  Same concept.  Depending upon the products, maybe that barcode is on your end-user package, but more likely it's the bin that product is in.  There is a lot in your situation that I don't know, so this might not work, but that is how I would look at it.  

 

Another means would be to track it at a higher level.  It would mean recalling a lot more product, but you could just track the day you start shipping a lot and a day you stop shipping a lot and recall all of the sales within that time period for that item.  Messier, and more expensive if you have a recall, but perhaps something that would work easier for you.  

 

If you can provide more specifics about how you operate, I can try and recommend something more specific.  Involve your IT person/staff and use technology to keep track of it if possible.  Manual processes suck and you are going to have to prove that your processes work and that you can id the recalled product completely (or you will be recalling everything).  

 

Anyway, good luck....

 

Todd

 

PS: Don't forget to think about how you handled returned product cause that process may now need to change as well.  

Edited by tsebring, 24 October 2019 - 12:23 PM.