Heat-number traceability in Zoho ERP without custom code
Clients in pharma, food and process industries ask fabricators to show which heat of steel went into which pipe or frame. Standard Zoho ERP can answer that at batch level before any custom development.
1. Heat number as the batch
Track every pipe, plate and fitting by batch and use the heat number as the batch number at goods receipt. Store pipe in metres, so a cut takes length from the heat and the offcut stays in the same batch.
2. Quarantine until accepted
Receive into a Quarantine location, attach the mill test certificate, record the inspection result, and transfer only accepted lots to the usable store.
3. One manufacturing order per piece
Create a manufacturing order per spool or assembly and issue material by batch, so each heat is linked to the order that consumed it.
4. Stages as work centres
Model cutting, fit-up, welding, testing and final QC as work centres in the routing. Supervisors start and complete each operation, and QC fields on the order hold the results.
5. Trace both ways
The batch traceability report then follows a heat forward to orders, deliveries and invoices, and back from a delivered item to its heats.
Where standard features stop
What to set up before the first order
- Items: batch tracking switched on for every raw material that needs traceability, with the unit of measure you actually cut in (metres, kilograms or pieces).
- Locations: a Quarantine location, an Accepted store and, if you need it, a Rejected location for material returned to the supplier.
- Custom fields: mill test certificate number, inspection result and inspector name on the receipt, so the record travels with the batch.
- Routing: work centres for each stage, in the order your shop floor follows.
How the client audit works afterwards
When a client asks where a heat went, open the batch and run the traceability report: it lists every manufacturing order that consumed it, every delivery that shipped the finished piece, and the invoice it was billed on. When a client asks what went into a delivered item, start from the delivery and trace back to the batches issued. Attach the mill test certificates to the batch so they can be shared in the same step.
Common mistakes we fix
- Heat numbers typed into a note instead of the batch field, so they cannot be reported on.
- Material issued in bulk to a project instead of to each manufacturing order, which breaks the link between heat and piece.
- Offcuts moved to a separate "scrap" item, losing their heat number.
- No quarantine step, so material is used before inspection is recorded.
A sensible rollout
Start with one product line and one month of receipts. Once the team is recording batches correctly at receipt and issue, extend to the rest of the plant, and only then decide whether barcode scanning or a custom app is worth building.
Barcode scans at every stage, per-joint weld records and hard blocks on unqualified welders need a small custom app. Decide that after the standard setup is running.
Feature names vary by edition; test the flow in a trial organisation first. See our fabrication setup.