In this guide 6 sections
Give every reel, pallet and sheet stack a printed label at the goods inward bay, then scan it at each issue to a machine. Record splices and offcuts against the parent lot, and tie each finished pallet to the job card and every source reel it consumed. A complaint then traces back in minutes.
Label at the dock, not at the machine
Identity starts where the truck is unloaded. Label first. Each reel or pallet gets a printed label before it moves to the rack, carrying a number unique to that roll and never reused after the reel is consumed.
The supplier’s lot number is not enough, because one supplier lot can cover forty reels and you must know which reel went on which press. Print your own reel number. Keep the supplier lot alongside.
Weigh each reel on receipt. A gross and net weight on the record helps later, when you reconcile what went in against what came out of the slitter, the press and the scrap bin.
- Own reel or pallet number, printed as a barcode
- Supplier name, supplier lot and mill certificate reference
- Width, core size, gauge or board grade, gross and net weight
- Rack location and receiving date
- Inspection status: hold, released or rejected
Scan every issue to a machine and a job
A reel is only traceable if someone records where it went, and the cleanest way is a scan at the point of issue.
The storekeeper scans the reel, then the job card, and the system links the two records so nobody retypes a number at the press. Hand entry fails on a night shift. A scan takes two seconds. If the plant has no scanners at the press, a printed issue slip with a tear-off reel tag works as a stopgap until handheld units arrive.
Blown film lines, laminators and flexo presses each consume stock differently, while sheet-fed corrugators draw whole pallets of board, so the issue step should match each machine. Spare the operator a fight with the screen.
Record splices, offcuts and the returned core
A reel rarely finishes on one job. A half-used reel comes off the press, gets re-weighed and returns to the rack under its original number, with the leftover weight and the last job logged beside it.
Splices need a note too. Whenever a new reel is joined, the operator logs the splice time and both reel numbers, which marks every metre around that joint as holding two lots.
Offcuts and trim are waste. They still count. Weigh edge trim and start-up scrap. If the numbers do not add up, the missing weight is usually a reel issued twice or never returned to the rack.
- Remaining weight after each job, entered at the scale
- Splice log with time, old reel and new reel
- Start-up scrap and edge trim weight per job
- Core and wrapper weight, so net usage is true
Tie the finished pallet to its source lots
Every finished pallet needs its own label. Each pallet label links to the job card, machine, shift and reels consumed, and slitting adds a second layer because one parent reel becomes several child rolls.
Keep the parent and child numbers together. A child roll labelled R-4410-3 tells the reader it came from parent R-4410, whereas without that rule a recall means opening every job file by hand.
Test the chain before a customer does. Pick any finished pallet at random and trace it back, on paper alone, through the job card and the reel numbers to the resin or board lot. A slow trace means a gap.
Run a trace drill each month
A system never tested is a guess. Once a month, the quality manager picks one shipped pallet and traces it backward to the supplier lot, then forward to every customer who received that lot.
Note where the drill stalled. Maybe a splice was never logged, or a returned reel lost its label, or a child roll was cut without a number. Fix that step. Run the drill again next month.
Write the result in the audit file. Start this week with one live job, one pallet and one stopwatch, and repeat until the trace takes minutes rather than hours.
Reel and pallet trace sheet
The worksheet has three blocks. The first block lists reel number, supplier lot, width, gauge, weight, rack and receiving date for every roll that enters the plant. Block two is a job issue grid. Each run adds a row with job card, press, reel in, splice time, remaining weight, start-up scrap and edge trim, so a half-used reel can be followed. Block three lists finished pallet numbers with their source reels, parent and child roll numbers, and the monthly drill result with its date and signer.
Open a blank worksheet to printQuestions owners ask
Do we need barcodes to trace reels?
A register of handwritten reel numbers can work for a small plant with few reels a day, as long as every issue is written down at once. Barcodes remove typing mistakes on night shifts and pay back as volumes grow, because every scan takes seconds and matches the label exactly.
How do we trace a lot after slitting?
Give each child roll a number carrying the parent reel number, so the system can link child rolls to the parent and the parent to the supplier lot. Slitting loses nothing that way.
What if two lots are spliced in one job?
Log the splice time and both reel numbers. Treat the finished output around that joint as containing both lots, then hold or release it on that basis until quality has inspected the sample.
Who owns the trace records?
Quality usually owns the rules. Stores owns the labelling. Agree this in writing, and name one person who must chase every missing scan, every unlabelled pallet and every reel that returns without a tag.