What is a batch number and a lot number?

A batch number, also called a lot number, is the code a manufacturer gives to a group of products made under the same conditions. Every unit from the same production run shares it. If a problem turns up in one run, the batch number tells you exactly which units are affected, so you can act on that run and leave the rest of the model alone.

Batch number vs lot number

In everyday use the two terms are synonyms. GS1, the organization behind barcode standards, treats them as a single data element called "batch or lot number". Which word a company uses is mostly a matter of habit.

Some regulations do draw a distinction:

So a lot can be a whole batch or part of one. For consumer products outside these sectors, pick one term and use it consistently across your labels, ERP and passport data.

How batch numbers are encoded

The GS1 General Specifications define Application Identifier (10) for the batch or lot number. Key rules:

• Format: up to 20 alphanumeric characters.
• Content: whatever the manufacturer finds relevant for traceability, for example a production lot, a shift number, a machine number, a time or an internal production code.
• Always with a GTIN: the batch number is an attribute, not an identifier on its own. It must be processed together with the GTIN of the product. GS1 notes it "is not part of the unique identification of a trade item".
• No duplicates per GTIN: when the same product is made in several plants, the brand owner and manufacturer must make sure batch numbers do not repeat for that GTIN.

In a GS1-128 barcode or GS1 DataMatrix it appears as (01)09506000134352(10)ABC123. In a QR code built on GS1 Digital Link it becomes part of a web address: https://example.com/01/09506000134352/10/ABC123.

Batch numbers in recalls and traceability

Batch numbers are what make a targeted product recall possible. If a supplier's component was faulty for two weeks, you recall the batches that used it, not every unit ever sold. They also link a finished product to its production records, inspection results and supplier materials, which is the basis of traceability.

Under the General Product Safety Regulation, which applies from 13 December 2024, Article 9(5) requires manufacturers to make sure their products "bear a type, batch or serial number or other element enabling the identification of the product", visible and legible for consumers, or on the packaging or an accompanying document where the product is too small.

Batch level in the Digital Product Passport

ESPR does not fix one level of detail for all products. Article 9(2)(d) leaves it to each product group's delegated act to decide "whether the digital product passport is to be established at model, batch or item level". Recital 33 explains the terms: a batch "usually refers to a subset of a specific model composed of all products produced in a specific manufacturing plant at a specific moment in time".

At batch level, the unique product identifier is typically the GTIN plus the batch number, and the data carrier changes per batch rather than per unit. That suits products whose environmental data, such as material sourcing or carbon footprint, varies between production runs. Batteries are different: the battery passport is set per individual battery, which needs a serial number.

How to prepare

• Define what one batch is in your production: a day, a shift, a line, a material lot. Write it down so plants and suppliers apply it the same way.
• Keep batch numbers unique per GTIN across all factories.
• Stick to the GS1 rules: 20 characters at most, and avoid characters outside the GS1 set if you plan to encode them.
• Record the batch with its context: production date, facility and key input materials, so a recall or passport query can be answered quickly.
• Print it where people can read it on the product, or on the packaging when the product is too small, as the GPSR requires.