Glossary
Batch number (lot number)
The unique identifier a manufacturer assigns to one batch or lot of material, tying together its production record, its testing, its labels and its certificate. Traceability starts and ends with this number.
Why it matters on a certificate
A certificate is evidence about one batch only. If the batch number on the certificate does not match the container label, or appears in different forms in different places on the same document, the chain between the paper and the goods is broken and every result on the page loses its anchor.
A worked example
A delivery of two pallets carries one certificate whose batch number matches pallet one only. Pallet two's batch has no certificate at all: a completeness finding that no amount of good results on the paper can cure.
Examples are synthetic and illustrative; any limits shown are not the requirements for any particular material.
The COA Validator checks the element this term describes on every certificate it reads, and reports what is present, what is missing and what does not add up.