Batch Lot Tracing in the Cannabis Industry: Understanding the Basics

The cannabis industry can be risky and difficult to navigate. Many cannabis operations have their own grow operations, sell their own products, and manage their entire supply chains all by themselves. But one thing is certain, whatever stage you’re in --- from early operations to scaling and growing, you’ll need batch tracking capabilities.

Batch tracking means you’ll know the origin of every single order sold. It’s part of a larger process known as track and trace.

Track and trace is the process of tracking a product from seed to sale, through processing, and all the way along the supply chain into a consumer package and ultimately into the consumer’s hands. In industry lingo, it's tracking a product from seed to sale.

In the cannabis industry, a batch = a set of plants grown under the same conditions, or a set of plants with the same genes grown under the same conditions. 

Assigning each batch an unique barcode, manufacturers can collect all sorts of data that can help improve operations going forward. 

This includes: measuring yields, tracking pest treatments, nutrients, and all the elements to replicate the growth of successful strains.

For these reasons, implementing batch tracking in your organization can have a major impact on your bottom line. It can also make it easier to comply with state and local regulations, and deliver high customer satisfaction. 

In the event that a problem is detected with a particular batch, you can immediately know where those products ended up, and pull from the shelves in short order. 

Customers understand that not all cannabis products are created equal. Therefore, they put a lot of trust into brands, trust that can be eroded if proper supply chain measures aren’t put into place.

Using a Barcode Duplicator in Batch/Lot Tracing

When large batches of product come in from the field or from sorting, they are then broken into smaller units of measure, but the batch identification must remain consistent. 

Example: A batch of 100 pounds of flower is assigned batch "ABCD." The processor may break the 100 pounds down into grams and further break it down into individual containers. Each of the containers will need the ABCD batch number.

Using a Barcode Duplicator (portable scanning & printing solution) allows you to recreate the batch barcode during processing no matter where that happens to be; (in the field, in the green house etc).

Getting Started

Track and trace and batch tracking capabilities aren’t limited to Fortune 500 companies and large multi-state operators (MSOs). Increasingly, small operators are getting into the game as well. The first step is to implement an ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) platform. This business management software will combine financials, supply chain info, operations data, reporting and more all into one centralized hub, helping you make data-driven decisions.

Symbology Enterprises, creators of barcodeduplicator.com, is a leading integrator of data collection systems. We take great pride in delivering the most attentive and responsive customer service in our industry. This ultimate level of service, combined with our experience, provides our clients with a strong service partnership they can rely upon at all times. Use the form below to contact us about your cannabis batch tracing needs.