Glossary
What is lot tracking?
Lot tracking groups inventory by production batch so teams can manage expiration, recall, or production history.
Definition
Lot tracking sits between quantity-tracked and serialized inventory. Instead of tracking each unit individually, the system tracks the batch (lot) the unit came from. A lot is a group of units produced or received together that share attributes: production date, supplier batch, expiration date. Lot tracking is essential for medical supplies, food, pharmaceuticals, chemicals, and aviation parts. Three operational use cases: expiration management (rotate older lots first), recalls (pull a specific lot from circulation), and quality investigations (which lot did the bad batch come from). Where teams get this wrong: not capturing the lot at receiving. If the lot isn't on the system record when the unit lands, lot tracking degrades into a guess. Fix it with a receiving workflow that captures lot and expiration as required fields, ideally by scanning the supplier label rather than typing.
Example
A dental practice receives a box of single-use suction tips with lot 7842B, expiration 2027-03. If the manufacturer recalls 7842B, the practice pulls only that lot from circulation rather than discarding all suction tip stock.
By Cameron Priest · Co-founder, Order3
Cameron co-founded TradeGecko, the inventory platform acquired by Intuit. He has spent more than a decade building software for the people who run physical stock.
Updated 2026-06-16
Where this lives in Order3