FOOD & BEVERAGE
FEFO only works if the floor actually does it.
Short shelf life across more than one temperature zone, plus lot tracing you'll need the day a recall lands. When first-expired-first-out lives only in the system, product expires in the back of the rack and the write-off lands on your margin.
We build date rotation and traceability into the floor process, then train every shift to run it.
How shelf life leaks out of the building
Write-offs for product you forgot you had
Older lots get buried behind newer receipts. You find them during the count, already expired.
Product waiting on the dock warms up
Cold product sits at receiving while someone figures out where it goes. Every minute out of temperature is shelf life you lose.
A mock recall takes days
You can tell which lots you received. Tracing which customers got them means pulling paper and asking people what they remember.
Zones that grew without a plan
Dry, cooler and freezer space got added as needed. Picks cross zones in the wrong order and product spends too long in transit.
WHY IT BREAKS HERE
The clock is always running.
Every food and beverage warehouse is racing shelf life and temperature. When pickers grab the nearest case, the system's FEFO logic doesn't matter. The floor decides which lot ships.
The fix is a floor built for rotation: receiving that moves cold product first, locations that put older lots in front, picks that confirm the date, and lot capture at every handoff so a trace takes minutes.
What we change about dates and lots
Food and beverage work comes down to dates and lots.
- 01Measure dock-to-stock time by temperature zone
- 02Lay out zones and pick paths so cold product spends the least time in transit
- 03Build FEFO into putaway and picking, with a date check at the pick
- 04Capture the lot at every handoff so a trace is fast
- 05Run a mock recall and fix the gaps it shows
- 06Write SOPs for every shift and train on the floor
You keep your ERP or WMS. Food safety programs stay with your team. We fix how the floor handles dates and lots.
Most food and beverage work is a Flight Check that follows lots from receiving to shipping, then Ground Crew zone by zone.
If you can't follow a lot through every move or pull a trace in minutes, the system may be the limit. That's when Flight Plan runs a selection.
How an engagement runs →Common questions
Can you help us trace a lot quickly when there's a recall?
Yes. We set the floor up to capture the lot at every handoff from receiving to shipment, so tracing a lot takes minutes instead of a day of digging through paper. What the rules require for your products stays with your food safety team.
We're cold storage only. Does this apply?
Yes. Cold and frozen buildings feel time pressure most, which makes receiving speed and pick sequence matter even more.
Do you work with breweries and beverage distributors?
Yes. Date rotation, lot tracking and keg or returnable container tracking all follow the same floor basics.
Ship it before it expires.
Thirty minutes on the phone. Tell us what you write off and why, and we'll tell you where we'd start.
Thirty minutes, and no pitch.