Batch number

When a supplier delivers the same product on different days, the boxes look identical but they are not: they were made at different times, maybe from different ingredients. A short code on the label tells one delivery from the next, so if something is wrong with one, you can find exactly those boxes and leave the rest alone. That code is called a batch number (also called a lot number).

The supplier or manufacturer assigns it, and it is printed on the box or the label. When goods arrive you scan or key it in; from then on it stays with that stock, through the shelf, the pick and the shipment.

What matters is that you record it on the way in and can say within minutes which customers received which batch. Food, cosmetics and medicines are the usual cases where this is expected or required; check the rules for your own products.