Batch and Expiry Tracking in a Warehouse: How FEFO Protects Dated Stock

Batch and expiry tracking means the warehouse records the lot number and expiry date of every unit when it arrives, keeps that record attached through every move, and picks the earliest expiry first. That picking rule is called FEFO: first expired, first out. For supplements, cosmetics, food and pet food, it lets you send customers stock with enough life left, meet retailer and Amazon shelf life rules, and find every order from a batch if something goes wrong.

The checks below cover goods-in, picking, shelf life, recalls and the 3PL's warehouse management system (WMS).

The pain points

• Customers keep getting products a few weeks from their date, and the reviews say so.

• A retailer turned a delivery away for short shelf life.

• An old batch sat at the back of a bay while newer stock shipped. Now it is a write-off.

• Our supplier flagged a problem batch and we could not say which customers had it.

• Amazon disposed of units that were close to expiry, and they could not come back.

Capture batch and expiry at goods-in

Tracking starts at the dock. A batch or date missed on day one cannot be rebuilt later.

• Put the batch number and expiry date for every line on your advance shipping notice, so the warehouse knows what to expect.

• Ask suppliers to pack one SKU and one batch per carton, with the batch and date on the outer case.

• Agree one date format with every supplier, so day and month cannot be swapped.

• Make batch and expiry mandatory fields at receipt. Stock with a missing or unreadable label goes to quarantine until you confirm it.

The labels themselves have rules. Under the UK Cosmetic Products Regulation, a cosmetic must carry a batch number or another reference that identifies it. It must also show a date of minimum durability if it lasts 30 months or less, or a period after opening if it lasts longer. Food carries a use by or best before date. Trading standards guidance says food past its use by date must not be sold, while food past its best before date can be sold if it is still of good quality and fit to eat.

Choose FEFO for dated stock

FIFO, first in, first out, ships the stock that arrived first. FEFO ships the stock that expires first. Most of the time they pick the same units. They part ways when a later delivery has an earlier date, for example when a supplier sends older stock from its own warehouse. FIFO would ship the batch that arrived first and leave the shorter-dated one to age. FEFO catches it.

Two settings make FEFO work for a brand:

• Minimum remaining life per channel. The WMS blocks stock below a set number of days from being allocated to a channel. A retailer order might need more life left than a direct order.

• Expiry alerts. A report of stock by batch with days to expiry, sent on a schedule you choose, so you can promote or move short-dated stock while it still sells.

Meet retailer and Amazon shelf life rules

Retailers set a minimum life on receipt in their supplier terms, and the figure varies by retailer and category. Get it in writing for every account and load it into the WMS as a channel rule.

Amazon has its own rules for expiration-dated products sent to FBA. Products must be set up as expiration-dated, carry a readable date and arrive with enough shelf life left, and units close to expiry are removed for disposal. Seller guides have reported figures of more than 90 days of life at check-in for most products and removal around 50 days before expiry. Amazon has changed these rules by category before, so check the current figures in Seller Central before every shipment. When your 3PL prepares FBA stock, ask it to pick the longest-dated batch.

Plan for a recall before you need one

Supplements and food fall under food law, and pet food under feed law. The Food Standards Agency's guidance says food businesses must hold traceability records one step back and one step forward: who supplied them, who they supplied, what, how much and when, available on demand. If food is unsafe and has left your control, you withdraw or recall it and tell the enforcement authorities. Read the FSA quick reference guide on traceability, withdrawals and recalls for the full duties.

For an ecommerce brand, the useful record goes one step further: which batch went to which customer order. With it, a recall reaches the customers who had the batch. Without it, you contact everyone who bought the product in that period. If you sell into the EU or Northern Ireland, product safety rules there also expect you to identify products by batch. Our guide to GPSR for UK sellers covers that.

Test it once. Pick a batch and ask the 3PL for every order that shipped it, with customer and date. Time how long the list takes to arrive.

What to ask a 3PL's WMS

• Are batch and expiry stored as fields on every stock record, and are they mandatory at receipt?

• Is the batch scanned at pick, or allocated by the system alone?

• Can FEFO be set per SKU, with a minimum remaining life per channel?

• Can I get a scheduled report of stock by batch with days to expiry?

• Can you produce a list of orders by batch, and how quickly?

• How are quarantine and expired stock held, and what do they cost to store?

• Are returns checked for date and batch before they go back to stock?

• Does batch data flow back to my store platform or my own reports?

Our recommendation: make batch data a contract term

1. List every dated SKU, its shelf life and the minimum life each channel needs.

2. Add batch and expiry to every ASN and agree carton labelling with suppliers.

3. Ask your 3PL to switch on FEFO and channel rules for those SKUs, and confirm it in writing.

4. Set a monthly expiry report and act on anything inside your warning window.

5. Run a mock recall on one batch and record how long the order list took.

6. Put batch capture, FEFO and recall reporting into the service level agreement.

If you are still choosing a provider, our pillar guide on how to choose a 3PL shows where these checks fit.

What waiting costs

Short-dated stock loses value fast. It fails retailer minimums first, then Amazon's, then direct customers stop wanting it. Stock that reaches its date becomes a disposal cost on top of the storage it already used. Our guide to dead stock storage costs shows how that adds up.

These figures are made up to show the method. A supplement brand finds 2,400 units of an older batch at the back of a bay with four months left. Its retailer needs six months on receipt, so that channel is closed. At a cost price of £4 a unit, that is £9,600 of stock to clear through direct sales at a discount, or to write off. With FEFO and an expiry report, the batch would have shipped first or been flagged months earlier.

People Also Ask

What is the difference between FIFO and FEFO?

FIFO ships the stock that arrived first. FEFO ships the stock with the earliest expiry date. For dated products FEFO is the safer rule, because a later delivery can carry an earlier date.

Does Amazon accept products with expiry dates?

Yes, under its expiration-dated product rules. Units must arrive with enough shelf life left and carry a readable date, and Amazon removes units close to expiry for disposal. Check the current minimums in Seller Central before you ship.

Do cosmetics need a batch number?

Yes. The UK Cosmetic Products Regulation requires a batch number or another reference that identifies the product. If the item is too small, it can go on the packaging only.

Finding the right 3PL partner

Logan, FulfilQ's advisor on the website, matches brands to verified providers by order volume, product type and region. Tell Logan what you ship and where it goes, and you get a shortlist you can ask about batch capture, FEFO picking and recall reports. Start at fulfilq.com and Ask Logan, or Submit an RFP and verified providers come back to you. You can also browse the full provider directory.