Product dispatched with six weeks left on a twelve-week life

Retail customers specify a minimum proportion of shelf life remaining on delivery. A manufacturer that picks by accessibility rather than by date will breach it intermittently.

Rotation as a rule, not a habit

First-in-first-out is universally intended and inconsistently practised, because the newest pallet is usually the nearest. Enforcing it at picking is a system decision rather than a discipline one.

Requirements differ per customer

One account may require seventy-five percent of life remaining, another fifty. Held in the account record rather than in the despatch supervisor's memory, this becomes checkable before the vehicle loads.

Surfacing before breach

Stock approaching the point where it can no longer satisfy a customer's requirement is still saleable — to a different customer, or through a different channel. Discovered at loading, it is a rejection; surfaced a fortnight earlier, it is a commercial decision.