Material tracking in Katana involves monitoring the stock levels and usage of raw materials throughout the production process. This helps businesses maintain accurate inventory records, ensuring that the necessary materials are available for manufacturing while avoiding overstocking or shortages.
Tracking options for materials
Katana offers two tracking methods for materials, configurable at the item level:
No tracking:
Select this option if traceability isn't required for the material.
Batch / Lot number tracking:
Assign batch or lot numbers to purchased and manufactured items.
Track batches for products and materials in your stock.
Assign expiration dates to batches to manage shelf life.
Note: Batch/lot number tracking is set at the item level and affects all variants of the item. Enabling or disabling batch/lot number tracking for one item does not impact other items.
Enabling batch tracking
To enable batch tracking for a material:
Access the Item card:
Navigate to the Items screen.
Select the desired material to open its item card.
Set tracking method:
In the item card, locate the Material tracking section.
Choose Batch / lot numbers from the available options.
Note: Batch/lot number tracking is included in the Full Traceability add-on, available on Standard plans and automatically enabled for Professional plans.
Important considerations
Existing stock:
If batch tracking is enabled for an item that already has stock, all existing items are assigned to a batch called unbatched.
Disabling batch tracking:
Turning off batch tracking for an item hides its batch information for all variants of that item. Nothing is deleted.
Turning batch tracking back on shows the batch information again. Stock moved while tracking was off is not assigned to a batch and shows as unbatched.
Recommendation: Export historical batch tracking information before disabling if you need it while tracking is off. Read more about disabling batch tracking.
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