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Traceability with Internal Ordering: Tracking Stock Movement Between Sites

When traced stock moves between your sites, the lot identity travels with it. This article explains how Traceability integrates with Internal Ordering and stock transfers, what gets logged at each step, and how to maintain an unbroken chain across a multi-site operation.

Table of contents

1. How Stock Moves Between Sites in Apicbase

2. End-to-End Workflow

3. Best Practices for Multi-Site Traceability

4. FAQ

 

1. How Stock Moves Between Sites in Apicbase

There are two ways stock moves between outlets in Apicbase, and Traceability behaves differently for each:

Internal Ordering is used when a central production kitchen (or any outlet set up as a Supplier Outlet) prepares and ships products to other outlets on request. The receiving outlet places an order through Procurement, the central kitchen picks and ships it, and the receiving outlet takes delivery. This is the primary method for traced stock movements because it follows a structured Incoming → Picked → Shipped workflow and generates a DELIVERED event in the Traceability Log.

Stock Transfer (via Inventory → Transfer) is a simpler, ad-hoc mechanism for moving stock between outlets without a formal order — for example, sending surplus ingredients from one restaurant to a nearby branch. Stock Transfers update inventory quantities at both outlets but do not carry lot-level traceability in the same structured way as Internal Orders. However, this action does not perform a traceability check.

❗ Important: For any stock that carries a traceability requirement — i.e. any product that has been assigned a lot number — always use Internal Ordering rather than a manual Stock Transfer. Only Internal Ordering generates the DELIVERED log event that maintains the traceable chain between sites.

What Happens to Lot Identity During an Internal Order

When a traced product is shipped via an Internal Order, the lot number does not change. The same lot number that was printed on the Production label at the central kitchen travels with the product to the receiving outlet. This is what makes cross-site traceability possible: a single lot number can be looked up in the Traceability Log from either the sending or the receiving outlet's perspective, and the full chain — raw ingredients received at the central kitchen, production at the CPU, shipment to the outlet, and use or sale at the outlet — is all linked under that one lot number.

This means:

  • The central kitchen's log will show: RECEIVED (raw ingredients) → USED (ingredients into production) → PRODUCED (finished product lot) → SENT BY INTERNAL ORDER (lot shipped to outlet)
  • The receiving outlet's log will show the same lot appearing as a SENT BY INTERNAL ORDER event when it arrives, and subsequent USED or DELIVERED events as the product is consumed or sold

2. The End-to-End Workflow: Internal Supplier to Outlet

At the Central Kitchen

Step 1 — Receive raw ingredients and print Receiving labels

Raw ingredients arrive at the central kitchen from external suppliers. Register each delivery in Apicbase and print a Receiving label for each ingredient lot as normal. This creates the first link in the chain.

Step 2 — Produce finished batches and print Production labels

Scan ingredient lots as they are used in production. When the batch is complete, print a Production label. The finished product lot is now linked back to all source ingredient lots.

Step 3 — Pick and ship the Internal Order

When an outlet places an internal order, it appears in the central kitchen's Internal Orders → Incoming Orders queue.

  1. Go to Internal Orders and click on the incoming order.

  2. Click Pick Order to begin preparing the shipment.

  3. For each line item in the order, confirm the quantity being picked. If only part of the order can be fulfilled, set the status to Partial and enter the actual quantity in the Picked Qt. field.

  4. Make sure Update Stock is checked so the picked quantities are depleted from the central kitchen's inventory.

  5. Click Pick and Ship to dispatch immediately, or Pick and Save to stage it for shipment later.

  6. You will be directed to the scanning page for Traceability. Before the products physically leave the kitchen, scan the label on each container being shipped. This scan creates the DELIEVERED event in the Traceability Log, linking the lot to the receiving outlet and the specific internal order.

At the Receiving Outlet

Step 4 — Receive the internal order delivery

When the shipment arrives at the receiving outlet, the order appears in that outlet's Procurement → Sent Orders queue, just like an external supplier order.

  1. Go to Procurement → Sent Orders and select the outlet.

  2. Find the internal order from the central kitchen and open it.

  3. Confirm the Delivery State for each item — All, Part, or None — and enter any remarks if quantities differ from what was shipped.

  4. Make sure Update Stock is checked so the received quantities are added to this outlet's inventory.

  5. Click Save Delivery.

  6. After saving the delivery, you will be directed to the receiving Traceability page. There, scan each incoming container's Production label in the Traceability module. This scan at the receiving outlet confirms the lot has arrived and links it to this outlet's inventory and any subsequent USED or DELIVERED events generated here.

💡 Tip: The lot number on the label is the same one produced at the central kitchen. When you scan it at the receiving outlet, you are not creating a new lot — you are extending the existing lot's chain into this outlet's log.

3. Best Practices for Multi-Site Traceability

Treat the central kitchen as the origin of the lot chain All lot numbers should be created at the central kitchen, either at Receiving (for incoming raw ingredients) or at Production (for finished and semi-finished products). Receiving outlets should never create new lot numbers for stock that originated at the CPU — they inherit the existing lot.

Always use Internal Ordering for traced stock Reserve the Stock Transfer function for situations where lot-level traceability is not required. Every product that carries a lot label should move between sites via an Internal Order so the SENT BY INTERNAL ORDER event is generated.

Scan at both ends — dispatch and receipt Scanning at dispatch (central kitchen) creates the departure record. Scanning at receipt (receiving outlet) creates the arrival record. Both scans are needed for the chain to be complete and auditable end-to-end. A lot that was scanned at dispatch but never scanned at receipt will show as SENT BY INTERNAL ORDER in the central kitchen's log, but will have no onward events in the receiving outlet's log — this is a gap an auditor will notice.

Ensure receiving outlets have scanning capability Each outlet that receives traced stock needs a device capable of scanning labels — a tablet or smartphone with the Apicbase app, or a connected barcode scanner. If a receiving outlet is not equipped to scan, lot continuity breaks at that site.

Keep lot labels intact during transit Labels on containers must survive the journey between sites. Use label stock that can withstand refrigerated or ambient transport conditions. If a label is damaged or lost in transit, the receiving outlet cannot scan it and must contact the central kitchen to identify the correct lot number manually before logging receipt.

Use Internal Order references for audit matching Every Internal Order has a unique PO number. When filtering the Traceability Log for a specific shipment, you can cross-reference the SENT BY INTERNAL ORDER events against the PO number to confirm all lots in an order were scanned at dispatch. This is particularly useful during period audits or when investigating a specific delivery.

Register all transfers before running a stock count at either site Whether you are counting at the central kitchen or a receiving outlet, all Internal Order deliveries and Stock Transfers that happened before the count must be registered in Apicbase first. An unregistered transfer will cause a stock variance that will be difficult to reconcile after the fact.

4. FAQ

Can a receiving outlet re-transfer a lot to a third outlet? Yes. If a receiving outlet ships a traced product onwards to another outlet via Internal Ordering, the same lot number continues through that transfer. Each hop generates a new SENT BY INTERNAL ORDER event in the respective outlet's log, maintaining the chain.

What if the central kitchen splits a batch across multiple outlets? Each container going to a different outlet gets its own SENT BY INTERNAL ORDER event at dispatch, all linked to the same Production lot number. The lot is visible in each receiving outlet's log, and the total quantity across all SENT BY INTERNAL ORDER events should equal the original batch size minus any quantity kept at the central kitchen.

What if the receiving outlet uses the product in further production? If the receiving outlet takes a delivered semi-finished product and uses it as an ingredient in further preparation, they should scan the lot label when it is consumed. This generates a USED event at the receiving outlet, with the resulting new lot appearing in the Destination Apicbase Lot No column — extending the chain one step further, just as it would at the central kitchen.