The year is bought in a season. Peppers arrive once, and everything sold until the next harvest comes from that quantity, so allocating between trade contracts and consumer sales is a decision made months in advance.
Sausage makers notice a change. A batch that differs in colour or heat from the last one shows up in their product, so recording the analysis of each batch is what makes a long contract possible.
Stock ages even when it sits still. Colour value falls over months, so knowing what was ground when, and shipping the oldest first, is a quality question rather than a warehouse preference.
Two businesses share one store. A pallet for a manufacturer and a tin for a household come from the same batch but need different packaging, labelling and lead times, and confusing the two is how a small producer runs out of the wrong thing.