What Information Should I Record for Every Soy Wax Delivery Including Supplier, Lot Number, Date, Quantity and Incoming Inspection Results?

Record enough to trace it, judge it and close it

Most small candle businesses record a wax delivery as a line in the accounts: supplier, amount, date. That is enough to pay for it and nothing else. When a batch goes wrong, when a delivery behaves differently, or when you want to compare two suppliers honestly, you need the delivery's identity, its condition on arrival, the results of your incoming checks, where its retained sample is, which batches it went into, how many candles it made and how many were rejected. That is what a delivery record is for, and it fits on one card per delivery.

The record has five sections, filled in order. Identity and receipt are written the day the wax arrives. Inspection is completed as your incoming checks finish. Use and yield grows batch by batch while the lot is in production. Outcome closes the record: rejects, complaints, the date the lot ran out and the date its retained sample can be discarded. Everything is keyed to your own lot code — CSI publishes no lot numbers, certificates of analysis or change notices, so the code has to be yours.

This page gives the template field by field, shows the two calculations that make it more than a filing habit — a yield check that flags fill-weight and loss problems, and a reject rate per lot that turns into cost per saleable candle — and prices the inspection test that sits in the middle of it. The lot-label post covers the code format and the retained-sample post the sample; this page ties them together.

The delivery record, field by field

Copy the table into a notebook, a spreadsheet or a printed card. The "why" column tells you which later question each field answers; if a field never answers anything for your business, drop it. Example entries are formats, not test results.

The inspection section: what to test and how to record it

Section 3 is where the record earns its keep. It holds the incoming checks for this delivery against the retained sample of the previous one: a ten-minute Level 1 bench check, a Level 2 weighed melt-and-pour, and the R1 release check — three standard candles from the new lot beside three from the retained sample or approved stock. The incoming-QC post explains the levels in depth and the release post explains why three plus three, then a held first batch, is the routine release for an approved wax.

CSI publishes no numeric flame-height or jar-temperature limit. The safety rule is relative: no worse than the retained sample, within your jar supplier's guidance and the candle fire-safety standard you work to — ASTM F2417 is a commonly cited US standard.

The yield check: is the wax becoming the candles it should?

Section 4 records grams used and candles made per batch. Add them up when the lot closes and compare with what the delivery should have made. In the example, 20 kg of CSI 464 arrives; 600 g goes into the retained sample and 579.6 g into the R1 candles, leaving 18,820.4 g for production. At 184 g of wax per 200 g candle and a 3% pour-loss working assumption, that should make about 99.2 candles.

Now suppose the record shows only 94 candles from the lot — a hypothetical figure to show the arithmetic. Either the real pour loss was about 8.1% rather than 3%, or the candles averaged about 194.2 g of wax instead of 184 g — overfilled jars. Both are worth knowing: overfilling quietly changes burn behaviour and cost, and high loss usually points to process waste. Neither shows up anywhere except in a record that has grams and candle counts side by side. Ordering 92 kg vs 100 kg to cover tests and losses uses the same allowance stack in reverse.

Reject rate per lot: the number that compares deliveries and suppliers

Section 5 records rejects per batch, with a reason. Divide total rejects by total candles poured for the lot and you have a reject rate per delivery — the single most useful number for comparing deliveries and, later, suppliers. It converts straight into cost per saleable candle: material cost ÷ (1 − reject rate). In the example, a 200 g candle costs ₹233.49 in materials (CSI 464 at the 10 kg rate, Mango Coconut at the 1 kg rate, ₹5.90 wick, ₹70.80 jar; excluding labour, packaging, freight and GST).

Kept across a year, the per-lot reject rate shows whether a supplier's deliveries are consistent, whether a particular season is harder on your process, and whether a cheaper wax is actually cheaper. Comparing suppliers on batch consistency and lowest cost per kilo or per saleable candle both start from this column.

Waxes and oil in the worked example

The decision rule: how much record your business needs

For the example maker on CSI 464: order 2 × 10 kg per delivery (₹10,148.00), weigh and label both bags on arrival, cut the 600 g retained sample, run Level 1–2 and R1, and open one card per delivery. When the lot closes, run the yield check and write the reject rate. Ask CSI on WhatsApp for the MSDS and any available documentation and file it in section 1.

Frequently asked questions