Traceability isn't just about meeting compliance standards—it’s a practical lever for driving smarter operations and reducing risk. With increased regulations, customer demands, and product complexity, manufacturers need end-to-end visibility into every ingredient and every process step. Enter Kanoa Trace, a module in the Kanoa MES suite designed to inject both clarity and control into material and production flow.
Lot traceability means tracking a lot (or batch) of material from when it enters the system to when it exits. Each lot gets a unique identifier, enabling:
Genealogy tracking: See the raw materials, processes, and intermediate states behind each finished unit.
Quality assurance: Pinpoint and isolate issues tied to specific lots.
Compliance and recall readiness: Respond with speed and accuracy when issues arise.
Inventory optimization: Implement FIFO methods, locate bottlenecks, and reduce waste.
In regulated industries like food, pharma, or chemicals, this kind of traceability is essential.
This screenshot illustrates a simple example of how Kanoa Trace captures and visualizes material transformations during a paint mixing operation.
It begins with a Receive Lot Operation Event, where new raw materials are added into the warehouse. From this event, we create two new Lots:
RedLot-001, representing 1,000 lbs of Red Pigment
BlueLot-001, representing 1,000 lbs of Blue Pigment
Two Lot Events are recorded to capture the creation of those quantities and their initial location in the Warehouse.
Next, a Mix Lot Operation Event occurs. This operation:
Consumes 100 lbs from RedLot-001
Consumes 100 lbs from BlueLot-001
Produces a new lot: VioletPaint-001, containing 200 lbs of Violet Paint, stored in Mix Line 1
Each of these actions is recorded as a Lot Event within the Lot Operation Event. The Node Chart visualizes these connections clearly—providing an intuitive map of how materials were consumed and transformed at each step.
The Lot Manager table above the chart displays the current state of each lot:
RedLot-001 and BlueLot-001 now have 900 lbs remaining each, still located in the warehouse
VioletPaint-001 has 200 lbs in Mix Line 1
This visual genealogy helps teams see not only current inventory but also the exact lineage of how each material was used, transformed, and where it originated.
Let’s unpack the key building blocks of Kanoa Trace:
A lot represents a physical item or batch to be tracked in the system, and is identified by a name, material, and unit of measure. Its state, quantity, and other dynamic properties are managed over time through associated Lot Events.
These timestamp each interaction with a lot, including:
Quantity changes: Material added or consumed
State changes: For example, shifting from “OK” to “Hold”
Location changes: A lot moves from one asset to another
Each event notes delta quantity, state and reason, and location.
These connect multiple Lot Events into manufacturing operations—like:
Split: Input 10 lb of Lot A → output Lot A1 (5 lb), Lot A2 (5 lb)
Receive: Create a 100 lb lot of Material A in the Warehouse
Process: Input 50 lb of water, 50 lbs of flour, and 10 lbs of sugar → output Batch-Dough-123 in Mixer 2
Lot Operations are fully configurable, allowing you to mirror your plant’s actual workflows with precision.
Built on Ignition and tightly integrated with Kanoa Ops, Kanoa Trace is designed to provide rich, contextual insights into every lot-related action:
Configurable operations: Define operations, lot states and reasons within the system.
Operator workflows: Lot activities can be triggered manually via entry screens or automatically based on machine signals; asset-based UDTs like lotQueueFIFO, lotAccumulator, and lotOperationManager automate creation and linkage of events.
Lot Genealogy: The Node Chart visually maps the full chain of Lot and Lot Operation Events for any lot.
Lot Manager: This built-in screen lets teams view, edit, and manage every lot transaction with clarity and control.
Why should manufacturers care? Here are the top benefits:
🚨 Precision Root-Cause Analysis & Targeted Recalls
If product quality issues surface, Kanoa Trace enables you to trace back to exact raw materials or process steps—rather than blindly recalling entire production runs. Pinpoint the problem with surgical accuracy.
📋 Regulatory Compliance & Audit Readiness
The module generates tamper‑evident, timestamped digital logs that satisfy traceability regulations across industries—including food, pharmaceuticals, and chemical manufacturing.
📈 Operational Visibility & Efficiency
Mass balance tracking, FIFO queue insights, and lot-level location/state visibility help reduce waste, forecast consumption, and spot bottlenecks.
🔄 Integration & Data Synergy
Works seamlessly with Kanoa Ops (production schedules, work orders, shift/OEE) and ERPs, delivering a unified data fabric across systems.
Fast configuration: Configure lot operations, states, and reasons via GUI with minimal coding.
Operator ease: Guided screens for lot activities and API-first automation options.
High-integrity visuals: Intuitive Node Charts and asset-level lot tracking for easy analysis.
Scalable functionality: From ad hoc lot management to fully automated FIFO/accumulation flows handled by UDTs.
Immediate ROI: From day one, gain improved traceability, compliance posture, recall readiness, and operational clarity.
Traceability isn’t just about record-keeping—it’s about unlocking operational insight and driving continuous improvement across your plant. Kanoa Trace transforms paper-based or opaque systems into a live, intelligent network of traceable data—empowering better decisions, faster responses, and smarter production.