For recalls and proof of compliance, you need to be able to trace when each product batch entered the warehouse, where it is stored, and which customers it was shipped to. Pickware supports you with tracking profiles so that you can consistently capture batches and best before dates (BBD) in your warehouse processes and trace them without gaps.

Open the relevant product in the Admin and scroll to General → Stock management. Select the desired tracking profile (Batch only / BBD only / Batch & BBD) and save.

If you work with variant products, the tracking profile must be configured for each variant.

For product sets, no separate tracking profile is maintained on the main product of the set. Tracking is configured at the level of the sub-products. If sub-products are tracked, the mechanisms apply automatically during shipping.

In the Admin, navigate to Warehousing → Batches. Click Create batch here.

Here you enter the product, the batch number, the best before date (if relevant), the production date, as well as comments and tags. In the interface, a small asterisk shows you which fields are required for the selected tracking profile (e.g. batch number and/or BBD). These required fields must be filled in before you can save or complete the process.

A product can have multiple batches, while a batch always belongs to exactly one product.

Our custom fields are also available for individual information, and you can access their configuration directly from this view.

The batch overview then lists all batches you have created, and you can open and edit them at any time.

In the batch details, you can also see which tracking profile is assigned to the associated product. This lets you quickly tell, in the context of the batch, whether only a BBD is tracked or Batch & BBD.

The batch overview hides batches without stock.

In the batch overview under Warehousing → Batches and BBD, you can import and export batches via CSV.

Click Export to download the batches currently shown in the overview as a CSV file. The export takes the displayed columns and active filters into account, so you export exactly the data you see in the overview. You can also write a user comment right away, which is saved on the export detail page.

Click Import to create new batches via CSV file. You can drag and drop the file into the popup or upload it via Select file. With Download minimal CSV template, you get a template with the available columns.

The following information can be imported: batch number, BBD (in the format DD.MM.YYYY), product number, production date, and tags. If you want to import multiple tags for a batch, separate them with the character | (e.g. Bio|Kühlware|Charge 2025). Tags that do not yet exist in the system are created automatically.

The same rules apply during import as when creating batches manually: the required information for the product's tracking profile must be present, and the combination of batch number and BBD must be unique per product.

If errors occur during import (e.g. an unknown product number, missing required information, or an already existing batch-BBD combination), the import is not aborted. The faulty rows are documented with an error message in the import log, and all valid rows are processed. You can find the import and export logs under Import/Export (Pickware).

For traceability, it is crucial that you record the batch (and, depending on the tracking profile, the BBD as well) before putting the goods into stock. In practice, this often happens right at goods acceptance, because you have the information "at hand" there and can assign it unambiguously.

When you generate a stocking list for a goods receipt, the relevant tracking information for tracked products is shown on the document. For products with Batch & BBD, you see the batch number and BBD; for BBD-only tracking, you see the BBD including the remaining shelf life in days. This lets you check directly during stocking whether the goods have been recorded correctly and match the desired remaining shelf life.

In the Admin, you usually assign goods receipts from supplier orders to batches that have already been created, and add to the allocation if needed before stocking.

For products with a configured tracking profile, a BBD and/or a batch must be specified for every goods receipt. A BBD or a batch can be assigned to a goods receipt line item and customized as long as the goods receipt is in the Created or Approved state. Once a goods receipt has been stocked, the batch specified for the goods receipt can no longer be changed.

If no suitable batch or BBD has been created yet for a line item, you do not need to switch to batch management: in the batch selection of the line item, choose + Create new batch, enter the batch number and BBD, and confirm with Create batch. The new batch is then immediately assigned to the line item.

To do this, open the Goods receipt mode in the WMS App and select a goods receipt. Record the delivered quantity for each line item. You can specify a batch for each delivery line item.

If an item is delivered in multiple batches, you can create multiple line items for it in the goods receipt and thus record all batches in the corresponding quantities with a single goods receipt.

If you only have the BBD or batch information once the goods are accepted, you can add it during the process. The tracking information must be complete before stocking at the latest.

If a batch for a goods receipt does not yet exist in Pickware, you can create it directly during recording by selecting Add. The batch can be entered manually or simply by scanning.

Scanning batches via QR code works if the code contains only the batch number. For UDI codes, it is best to use a barcode decoder to check whether the contained number sequence matches the batch number. If it does not, create your own codes for your batches.

When stocking, moving, or removing tracked products with Pickware, specifying a batch or a BBD is always mandatory. For batch-tracked products, stock is therefore always assigned to a batch.

If a bin location already holds a batch of the same product, this bin location is automatically suggested for stocking. Because bin locations must hold only a single batch, no other batch can be selected for stocking in this case:

If you have selected a batch or a BBD for a stock movement, you can also only select bin locations for this operation that do not hold a different batch of the same product.

Batches are not retroactively "rewritten" in old stock movements. Corrections, e.g. for incorrect assignments, are made via stock movements (remove, add, move) so that the stock and movement logic remains traceable.

When picking via the WMS App, you can recognize products that require a batch by this icon:

When you pick an order containing tracked products, a batch must be assigned to each of these line items before you can confirm the product. Since bin locations are managed with a single batch and a single BBD, this information is carried along automatically via the selection of the bin location and no longer needs to be confirmed separately.

If the batch at the bin location is not unambiguous (e.g. if the stock is assigned to Unknown), you select the batch in the WMS App or capture it by scanning the batch number/label.

If you change the bin location, the WMS App automatically adjusts the associated batch. When you open the product details, you can also see which batches of this product are still available.

If the quantity from one batch is not sufficient, the WMS App splits the line item into multiple line items (one per batch) so that the order can be picked completely.

If you ship orders via the Admin, batches are determined automatically by bin location order (alphanumeric) and do not take best before dates or remaining shelf life into account. If you want to control picking deliberately, pick the order via the WMS App.

You can check traceability in two central places.

In the details of a batch, you can see

This way, you can always trace without gaps where a batch comes from, where it is currently located, and who it was delivered to, and act directly in the event of a recall, for example.

In the order, the shipped tracking information can be viewed in the order line item via a pop-up. Here you can also see which batch was shipped in which quantity.

There are processes in which a batch cannot be recorded or is not unambiguous. In these cases, Pickware only adopts what can be derived with certainty in order to avoid false information. You can find more information in the article How do I work with BBD & batches in Pickware?.

In the stock overview, you can display batch stock in the warehouse context and, depending on the view, filter by batches, e.g. to check which batches of a product are available and where they are located. Depending on the tracking profile, different tracking information is displayed there, for example the batch number, the BBD, and, if relevant, the remaining shelf life in days.

In the stock overview, you can add missing batch information directly on the respective entry, for example by double-clicking the entry to open editing.

If you want to add information to stock that lacks complete batch information, you can activate the filter Bin locations with missing batch information in the stock overview in the profile By product and bin location. This shows you only bin locations where batch information is still missing for tracked products, so you can close the gaps in a targeted way.

If a small gear icon appears next to a batch entry in your stock history, it means that the batch information was determined automatically by the system because no manual information was provided for the corresponding stock movement.

Depending on the configuration, tracking information (batch number and/or BBD) can be output on the delivery note and invoice. Which information is displayed depends on the product's tracking profile. If no tracking information is available yet at the time the document is generated, no tracking information is output on the document.