Traceability lab

A worked record, labelled as an illustration only. Follow one unit through its chain, and test each step for the gap that would break the trace.

The illustrated chain

Input lot L1001 is received at a plant, with a receiving record showing place, time, custodian, and quantity. Part of that lot is used in production batch B2002, with a transformation record showing the quantity consumed and the facility. Cases containing batch B2002 are dispatched to two customers, with dispatch records and receiving confirmations for each.

Now test the chain. If the transformation record is missing, the backward trace from batch B2002 cannot reach lot L1001. If a dispatch record has no receiving confirmation, the forward trace cannot prove which customer received the batch. If the lot is split without a new identity, two outputs may claim the same input. Each gap is a record failure, not a product failure, and each one is fixed in the record process, not after the fact.

Run the same test on your own record

1. Pick one finished batch and follow it backward to its inputs.
2. Follow the same batch forward to every customer destination.
3. Note every step that cannot be followed, and treat that step as the work to fix.

For the full method, start with the identity of a traced product, then event records, then chain of custody.