Event-Based TraceabilityReceive Events

Receive Events

A receive event records arrival at the destination Location. It is the receiving stakeholder's side of the transaction.

This page explains the concept. Start with Understanding Event-Based Traceability in Wholechain for shared concepts.

To perform this event, see Receive. For every event type, see the Wholechain Events Overview.

What a receive event represents

A receive event records arrival at the destination Location. It is the receiving stakeholder's side of the transaction.

When and why to use it

Use a receive event when item instances arrive at one of your Locations, whether from another company, from one of your own other Locations, or from a sender who isn't recording traceability at all.

Ship and receive are complementary sides of one movement. The sender's ship event says goods left. Your receive event says they arrived. Recording them separately lets each party record what it actually knows.

What it does to traceability history

A receive event adds the arrival to the instance's history and places the quantity into the receiving Location's inventory. If a matching ship record exists, the two describe the same movement.

A receive event doesn't require an existing upstream ship record when it is posted with Direct Receive. When a Receive is linked with Link Trace Info, a ship event is required, because a Ship is the only event type that can be linked to a Receive. Wholechain also supports starting traceability with a receive event. When earlier traceability is unavailable, receiving can establish the start of a mid-supply-chain user's recorded history. That lets you record what happens inside your facilities and pass that history downstream. It doesn't create evidence of what happened before the goods reached you. See Starting Traceability in Wholechain.

When your supplier records later than you do

Suppliers often record traceability later than their customers, especially when companies are getting started. Direct Receive lets you, as the receiving entity, log your receive event before the supplier's ship event is posted. Wholechain's Event Resolver can link a supplier's ship event to your receive event after the fact, so each side logs data on its own schedule. On a Receive, Link Trace Info lets you link upstream events that occurred with a date/time prior to the Direct Receive's date/time. A Direct Receive shows as an Inbound Shipment (Shipments > Inbound) in Wholechain. See Direct Ship and Direct Receive and Link Trace Info.

Required information and master-data prerequisites

CategoryFor receive
LocationThe destination. This is where the event occurs.
ItemThe product that arrived.
QuantityThe amount received, in the item's configured unit of measure.
Lot or serial identifierThe specific instance(s) that arrived.
Event date and timeWhen the goods arrived.

A receive event also identifies the originating Trade Partner and Location and the destination Trade Partner and Location.

Before you receive, set up:

Relationship to inventory, lots or serials, and other events

  • Inventory. The received quantity becomes inventory at your Location.
  • Lots or serials. Record the identifier that came with the goods. If your own systems use a different lot number, don't overwrite the supplier's identifier. Receive the goods as sent, then use transform to establish your identifier while keeping the relationship. A receive that starts your history creates the instance, so its identifier is fixed at that point. See How lot and serial identifiers work.
  • Containers. If goods arrive on an aggregated pallet or container, the aggregation carries across to you. You must disaggregate before acting on the contents with events other than a subsequent ship or observe.
  • Other events. Receive usually follows a ship event. Goods may then be disaggregated, transformed, or shipped onward.

Examples

Standard receipt. Northline Processing receives lot SAL-0412 (1,000 kg) at its processing plant, from Cedar Bay Farms. Northline records the receive event at its own plant.

Starting your history with a receive. A distributor buys from a supplier that isn't recording traceability. The distributor records a receive using the supplier's lot code from the delivery paperwork. The distributor's recorded history starts at receipt. Its customers can see everything from that point forward.

Common misunderstandings

  • "Receiving means unloading." It means arrival at the physical location. It does not necessarily mean unloading, unpacking, or shelving has happened. If goods arrive on a pallet, the pallet stays aggregated until you disaggregate it.
  • "Every receive needs an upstream ship event." Not always. A Receive posted with Direct Receive doesn't need an earlier Ship, and a receive can start your recorded history. When a Receive is linked with Link Trace Info, it must be linked to a Ship, the only event type that can be linked to a Receive.
  • "My receive event fills in my supplier's history." It doesn't. It records what you received, not what happened before.
  • "I can record receipt for my customer's facility." You can't, if they're a connected Trade Partner. They record their own receipt.

Relevant restrictions

  • A receive event is recorded at your own destination Location.
  • A shared Location can be used as the origin Location on a receive event.
  • If the sender is Wholechain connected, you can select its Location as the source of your receive event, but your account can't record events as though it operates that partner's Locations. See connected trade partners.

Notes on standards and regulations

  • GDST (Global Dialogue on Seafood Traceability): Receiving is a core GDST event. See GDST and Wholechain.
  • FSMA 204 (the U.S. FDA Food Traceability Rule): Receiving is one of the events the rule covers. See FSMA 204 and Wholechain.

Recording a receive event doesn't by itself establish compliance with a standard or regulation.

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