Traceability (4M)
Forward and reverse lot genealogy — from any finished-good lot to every material batch, machine, operator, and method revision used in its production, and back again.
Overview
The Traceability screen answers two fundamental quality questions. Forward traceability: "What went into this finished lot?" — useful for audits, customer complaints, and certificate of conformance preparation. Reverse traceability: "Which finished lots contain this supplier material?" — critical for supplier recall response and containment actions.
Every traceability record captures the 4M linkages for a finished lot: Materials (which supplier lots were consumed), Machines (which equipment was used), Man (which operators worked the production run), and Methods (which work instruction and inspection plan revisions were in effect).
Forward Traceability
Enter a finished-lot number → expand four collapsible 4M sections → see every material batch, machine, operator, and method linked to that lot.
Reverse Traceability
Enter a supplier lot number → see all finished lots that consumed it. Essential for containment when a supplier issues a quality alert or recall notice.
Recent Lots Sidebar
A quick-access list of the most recently produced finished lots appears on the left. Click any lot to load its 4M record without typing the lot number.
Export Traceability Report
The Export button in the detail view downloads a structured .txt report for the selected lot. The report covers all 4M data — Materials, Machines, Operators, and Methods — in a format suitable for customer audits, regulatory submissions, and quality records.
Forward Traceability — How to Use
- Ensure the search mode toggle is set to Forward.
- Type the finished-good lot number in the search bar (e.g.
LOT-2025-001) and click Search, or press Enter. - The detail area displays the lot's product name, work order, production date, and quantity.
- Expand each 4M section by clicking its header:
Materials
Each material card shows the material name, supplier lot number, supplier name, quantity consumed, and a link to the Certificate of Analysis (COA) PDF if one was uploaded at receipt.
Machines
Lists each piece of equipment used in the production run, identified by machine ID, machine name, and the operation sequence number.
Operators (Man)
Shows each operator who worked the run, with their name and the operation sequence they were responsible for. Useful for training and certification verification.
Methods
Captures the work instruction ID and revision number, plus the inspection plan ID and revision number that were in effect during production. Confirms the correct procedure was followed.
Once you have located a lot, click Export to download a .txt traceability report. The file is named trace-<lotNumber>.txt and includes the production date, work order, quantity, and the complete 4M breakdown — ready to share with customers or attach to audit packages.
Clicking a Reverse Result
After a reverse search returns a list of affected finished lots, clicking any lot card switches the screen to Forward mode and loads that lot's full 4M record. This lets you quickly confirm which specific materials, machines, and operators are involved in the affected lots.
Reverse Traceability — Supplier Recall Response
- Switch the mode toggle to Reverse.
- Enter the supplier lot number in the search bar (e.g.
SUP-FC-2025-042). - Click Search. The results area shows a grid of all finished lots that consumed that supplier lot.
- An amber "N lots affected" badge summarises the impact at a glance.
- Click any result card to load its full 4M forward trace and assess the full scope of the containment action.
Recall Containment Steps
When reverse traceability reveals affected finished lots, immediately: (1) Place those lots on quality hold in the Warehouse module, (2) Open NCRs for each affected lot, (3) Contact the supplier and document the NCR with "Return to Supplier" or "Scrap" disposition, and (4) Notify any customers who received product from those lots.
The 4M Data Structure
Each traceability record is keyed by the finished-lot number and contains the following fields:
| Field | Type | Description |
|---|---|---|
finishedLotNumber | string | Primary key — unique identifier for the finished production lot |
productId / productName | string | References the product from the Warehouse or Manufacturing module |
workOrderId | string | The Manufacturing Work Order that produced this lot |
productionDate | ISO date | When production of this lot was completed |
quantity | number | Number of units in the lot |
materials[] | array | One entry per raw material or sub-assembly consumed, including supplier lot number and quantity used |
machines[] | array | One entry per machine or workstation used, with operation sequence |
operators[] | array | One entry per operator, with operation sequence |
methods[] | array | Work instruction revision and inspection plan revision in effect during production |
Building Traceability Records
In a live deployment, traceability records are assembled automatically when a work order is completed in Manufacturing — pulling machine and operator data from the Shop Floor module and material lot data from Warehouse stock movements. For the demo, seed records are pre-loaded with two finished lots of "Brake Pad Set" showing realistic 4M linkages.
Integration with Other Modules
| Module | Data Contributed to Traceability |
|---|---|
| Manufacturing — Work Orders | Work order ID, production date, quantity; triggers record creation on completion |
| Manufacturing — Shop Floor | Operator names, machine IDs, and operation sequences from live shift logs |
| Manufacturing — Work Instructions | Work instruction ID and revision number active at time of production |
| Quality Operations — Inspection Plans | Inspection plan ID and revision number used during final inspection |
| Warehouse — Stock Movements | Raw material lots issued to the work order, with supplier lot numbers and quantities |
| HR — Employee Records | Operator names and certification status at time of production |
AI Assistant
Traceability includes a right-edge AI Assistant panel that reviews the current traceability record(s) — finished lot, product, quantity, production date, work order, and 4M counts (materials, machines, operators, methods), plus consumed supplier lot numbers — and answers natural-language questions about it. The panel's context follows what's on screen: a selected forward-trace lot, the current reverse-trace results, or the recent lots list when nothing is selected.
Recall Scope Estimation
Given a supplier lot or material, helps estimate which finished lots and quantities would be affected by a recall.
Genealogy Gaps
Flags finished lots missing materials, machines, operators, or methods records — incomplete 4M traceability.
Supplier Concentration
Summarizes which supplier lots appear across the most finished lots, indicating higher recall exposure.
Investigation Guidance
Describe a quality issue and get suggestions on what traceability data to pull next (forward vs. reverse search) to scope the investigation.
Save Assistant Answers as Reports
Any assistant response can be saved directly to My Reports with one click, so a recall scope estimate doesn't have to be re-generated later.
Frequently Asked Questions
quality-management.json store. The Recent Lots sidebar shows the most recently produced lots, but the search works against all records regardless of age.materials array is a list, and each entry is independent. If a production run used two different batches of the same raw material, both appear as separate entries with their respective supplier lot numbers and quantities consumed./uploads/coa/filename.pdf). In the demo, it renders as a clickable link in the Materials section. In production, the file would be uploaded to a document store and the URL saved to the traceability record at the time of material receipt.