Recall Readiness: Can You Trace a Lot to Every Customer in 5 Minutes?

A supplier calls at 9am. There's a contamination issue with lot number 2024-0892. They need to know where it went.

How long does it take you to answer these questions:

1. Which orders contained product from that lot?
2. Which customers received it?
3. How much did each customer receive?
4. When did it ship?

If the answer is "a few minutes," you're recall-ready.

If the answer is "let me check the spreadsheet... and cross-reference with order history... and maybe ask the warehouse manager..." — you're not.

Here's why that matters and how to fix it.

Why Recall Speed Matters

Regulatory Expectations

FDA doesn't just want you to be able to recall products. They want you to do it fast.

FSMA (Food Safety Modernization Act) expects food businesses to provide traceability information within 24 hours of a request. For many products on the Food Traceability List, records must include Key Data Elements that let regulators trace products through the supply chain quickly.

21 CFR 111 (dietary supplements) requires distribution records that allow you to identify where each batch went.

"We'll figure it out eventually" isn't compliant. Speed is part of the requirement.

Customer Safety

If contaminated product is in customers' hands, every hour matters. The faster you identify who's affected, the faster you can notify them, issue refunds, and prevent harm.

A recall that takes 3 days to execute when it could have taken 3 hours isn't just inefficient — it's a safety failure.

Containing the Damage

Recalls that drag on become public relations disasters. The longer it takes to identify affected customers, the longer the uncertainty. Media coverage grows. Social media speculation spreads. Customers lose trust.

A fast, contained recall — "we identified the issue, contacted affected customers within hours, and resolved it" — is manageable. A slow, messy recall damages your brand for months.

The 5-Minute Test

Here's a simple test for recall readiness:

Pick any lot number from the past 6 months. Time yourself answering these questions:

1. Which orders included products from this lot?
2. Who were the customers on those orders?
3. What quantities did each customer receive?
4. What were the ship dates?

Why Most Businesses Fail

The Spreadsheet Problem

Many businesses track lot numbers in spreadsheets. The spreadsheet might tell you that lot 2024-0892 was received on March 3rd with 500 units.

But which orders did those units go to? The spreadsheet doesn't know. It's not connected to your order management system.

So you have to:

• Look up when the lot was active (when did you start and stop shipping from it?)
• Pull all orders for that SKU during that time period
• Estimate how many units from that lot went to each order
• Hope you're right

That's not traceability. That's guesswork.

The "We Don't Track Lots at the Order Level" Problem

Most inventory systems — including Veeqo — track SKU quantities. They don't track which lot shipped with which order.

You know you shipped 50 units of Product A on March 15th. You don't know if those units came from lot 2024-0892, lot 2024-0915, or a mix of both.

Without lot-level order assignment, you can't answer recall questions accurately. You can only estimate based on timing and hope you're conservative enough to catch everyone affected.

The "It's Probably Fine" Problem

Because accurate traceability is hard, many businesses never test it until they need it.

Then a real recall happens, and they discover:

• The spreadsheet hasn't been updated in weeks
• Nobody knows which lot was shipping when
• It takes 2 days to reconstruct what happened
• They end up recalling more product than necessary (expensive) or less than necessary (dangerous)

What Real Recall Readiness Looks Like

Lot-Level Order Assignment

Every order should have the lot number recorded — not estimated after the fact, but assigned at the time of fulfillment.

When you ship an order, the system records: this order contained 3 units from lot 2024-0892. That data exists permanently, linked to the order.

Instant Reverse Lookup

You should be able to search by lot number and immediately see every order that contained it. Not "orders that might have contained it based on timing." Every order, definitively.

Complete Customer Information

The recall report should include everything you need to take action: order numbers, customer names, quantities, ship dates. One export, ready to use.

Historical Accuracy

Traceability shouldn't depend on someone remembering to update a spreadsheet. The data should be captured automatically as part of normal fulfillment.

If you fulfilled 500 orders last month, you should be able to trace any lot to any order — whether it shipped yesterday or 6 months ago.

The Mock Recall Exercise

Auditors often request mock recalls during inspections. They'll pick a lot number and ask you to trace it.

This is your chance to demonstrate recall readiness — or expose the gaps.

What auditors want to see:

• Speed: Can you produce the information quickly?
• Completeness: Does the report include all affected orders?
• Confidence: Are you certain the data is accurate?
• Documentation: Is there a clear audit trail?

What usually happens:

• Someone opens a spreadsheet
• Someone else pulls order reports from Veeqo
• A third person tries to cross-reference them
• 45 minutes later, there's a "best guess" list
• The auditor notes the gap

How TraceLot Makes You Recall-Ready

TraceLot adds lot-level traceability to Veeqo. Here's how it works for recalls:

Automatic Lot Assignment

When TraceLot assigns a batch to an order (using FEFO — earliest expiry first), it records that assignment permanently. Every order has a complete record of which lots it contained.

No manual tracking. No spreadsheet updates. The data captures itself during normal fulfillment.

Search by Lot Number

Need to find every order containing lot 2024-0892? Search the lot number. TraceLot shows you every order that included it — with quantities, dates, and order references.

Export the Report

Pull the list of affected orders and export it. Hand it to an auditor, send it to your customer service team, or use it to initiate customer notifications.

Works Backward and Forward

TraceLot maintains complete batch history from the day you start using it. Run a recall report on any lot from any point in your history.

What a Recall Looks Like With TraceLot

Compare that to 2 days of spreadsheet archaeology and cross-referencing.

The Cost of Not Being Ready

Recall readiness isn't just about compliance checkboxes. It's about what happens when something goes wrong.

If you're recall-ready:

• You identify affected customers in minutes
• You notify them quickly and professionally
• You contain the issue before it spreads
• Regulators see a competent response
• Customers see a trustworthy company

If you're not:

• You scramble for days to figure out who's affected
• Customers hear about the problem before you contact them
• Social media fills the information vacuum
• Regulators see gaps in your quality systems
• The recall becomes a brand crisis

The difference is preparation — and the systems that make preparation possible.

Test Yourself

Before your next audit — or before you need it for real — run a mock recall:

1. Pick a lot number from 3+ months ago
2. Time yourself finding every order that contained it
3. Verify you have customer details and quantities
4. Ask: "Would I trust this data in a real recall?"

If the answer is no, you know what to fix.