I Have Multiple Wax and Fragrance Batch Numbers in One Production Month — How Should My Batch Records Connect Finished Candles Back to the Exact Raw Materials Used?

The chain has three links, and each one needs the same code

To connect a finished candle back to the exact wax, oil and wick inside it, you need three records that share identifiers: a receipt log that gives every incoming lot a code, a batch sheet that lists those codes for each production batch, and a candle batch code on every finished candle that points to one batch sheet. If any link is missing, the chain breaks at that point and you are back to guessing.

This page is about the linkage itself: what fields carry the code from one record to the next, and how to handle the awkward moments, such as a wax lot running out halfway through a batch, that break most home-made systems.

Start with a receipt code for every lot

Some packs carry a supplier lot number and some do not. Product pages at CSI do not publish batch or lot numbers, so for our materials and any others without a printed lot, you create the identity yourself at goods-in. A receipt code built from material, date received and a sequence letter, such as W464-0903-A, is enough. If a supplier lot number is printed, record it alongside your own code rather than instead of it.

The batch sheet carries the codes forward

Your batch sheet probably already records the recipe, load, temperatures and cure. For traceability, add one block: a line for each material with its receipt code and the quantity actually used from that lot. The quantity matters, because it lets you see when a lot was split across batches or when a batch drew from two lots.

The figures above come from a real-looking run: 54 candles of 200 g at 8% need 54 × 184 g = 9,936 g of wax, recorded as 9.94 kg, and 54 × 16 g = 864 g of Dark Vanilla. Recording quantities also lets you reconcile: if the receipt log says 25 kg of W464-0903-A arrived and the batch sheets account for 24.8 kg, you know roughly where the lot went.

Worked example: two wax lots and three oil lots in one month

Suppose September brings two wax deliveries and three oil deliveries. Wax lot A is 25 kg of CSI 464, bought as 2 × 10 kg + 1 × 5 kg for 2 × ₹5,074.00 + ₹2,537.00 = ₹12,685.00. Wax lot B arrives mid-month. The oils are one delivery of Juicy Orange and two deliveries of Dark Vanilla: 2 kg (two 1 kg bottles on one invoice) on 1 September, and another 1 kg mid-month. Every production batch gets a candle batch code in the form date, product, run number.

Check the arithmetic on lot A. Two runs of 54 candles use 2 × 9,936 g = 19,872 g, leaving 25,000 − 19,872 = 5,128 g. At 184 g per candle, that covers 5,128 ÷ 184 = 27 candles, rounded down, with 160 g left over. So when a planned 40-candle run on 12 September reached candle 28, the wax lot changed, and the code changed with it: 0912-DV-02A for the first 27, 0912-DV-02B for the remaining 13. The 160 g offcut is logged as used for test pours rather than tipped into lot B.

The oil tells the same story a week later. Oil lot A was 2,000 g. Batch 0905-DV-01 used 54 × 16 = 864 g, and the split run used 27 × 16 = 432 g plus 13 × 16 = 208 g, leaving 2,000 − 864 − 432 − 208 = 496 g. That is exactly 496 ÷ 16 = 31 candles, so the 19 September run became 0919-DV-03A for 31 candles on oil lot A and 0919-DV-03B for the remaining 23 on oil lot B. Two lot changes, two splits, and every candle in the month still points to one wax lot and one oil lot.

Checking the chain works in both directions

A linkage design is only proven when you can walk it both ways quickly. Try both tests on last month's records.

Keeping it simple enough to last

Paper works. A bound notebook for the receipt log, a printed batch sheet per run and a roll of small base stickers are enough for hundreds of candles a month. A spreadsheet helps once lots and batches multiply, mainly because the forward lookup becomes a filter rather than a page-by-page search.

What matters is that the same code is copied exactly in all three places and that a batch code changes whenever any lot changes. Everything else is convenience. If your records can take a customer's candle back to an invoice in a few minutes, your system is doing its job, and if one of our lots is ever questioned, that invoice and date are what we will need to look into it with you.

Where this page fits

CSI already has guides that cover parts of this question. This page covers the goods-in check for the question above; these go deeper on the rest:

Three things to buy for this job

Frequently asked questions