Manage inventory across contract manufacturers and co-packers
Track materials sent to contract manufacturing partners, monitor outsourced orders, and receive finished goods—all with real-time inventory visibility. Full supply chain control, no factory required.
Track inventory at every stage
See what’s in your warehouse, in transit to manufacturers, in production, and on the way back. Connect with your existing tools for a complete picture.
Maintain full traceability
Track batch and lot numbers from raw materials through contract manufacturing to finished goods. Critical for food, cosmetics, and other regulated industries.
Stay in control when production happens elsewhere
Outsourcing production to contract manufacturers and co-packers makes sense. It can mean lower costs, specialized expertise, faster scaling. But it creates a visibility gap that spreadsheets can’t solve.
Katana bridges that gap. Our inventory management platform tracks materials sent to contract manufacturers and updates inventory automatically when finished goods arrive.
Track outsourced orders from start to finish
Katana’s outsourced purchase orders work differently from standard supplier orders tracking both the materials you provide and the finished goods you expect back.
Tracking capabilities
- Create outsourced purchase orders that track materials sent and finished goods expected
- Receive partial shipments and track remaining quantities
- Calculate true product costs including manufacturing fees and shipping
- Set lead times that reflect real outsourced production timelines
- Get alerts when orders are due or overdue
Always know where your inventory is
The biggest challenge with contract manufacturing is visibility. Materials leave your warehouse, production happens elsewhere, and you need to know exactly what’s where.
Multi-location inventory tracking includes:
- Stock in your warehouses and fulfillment centers
- Materials in transit to production partners
- Inventory at contract manufacturer facilities
- Finished goods being shipped back to you
Maintain compliance even with external production
Working with contract manufacturers doesn’t mean losing track of your products. Katana’s batch and lot tracking maintains full traceability across your supply chain.
End-to-end traceability features:
- Forward tracing: Track which material batches went into which production runs
- Backward tracing: Trace finished goods back to source materials and suppliers
- Batch capture on receipt: Log batch numbers when receiving goods from manufacturers
- Expiry management: Track expiration dates for food, cosmetics, and supplements
- Recall preparation: Identify affected products quickly with end-to-end visibility
Stay on top of every order and stock movement with live updates across sales, inventory, and production
Save hours by automating order fulfillment in Katana and extending workflows with integrations
Unlock full customization with Katana’s robust API, connecting every tool to your unique workflows
Tools to success
Tools for contract manufacturing success
Everything you need to manage inventory when using contract manufacturers.
All Katana features
All Katana features
With the right software and workflows, it will feel like your products are selling themselves. Here are just some of Katana’s features that will make that feeling achievable
Purchasing
Maintain a perfect balance between supply and demand.
Order management
Manage orders seamlessly across all of your channels.
Warehousing
Reliably move stock in and out of warehouses.
Manufacturing
See, control and deliver every step of production on time.
See all features
Everything you need to sync inventory and track orders
Frequently asked questions
Yes. Katana is built for product businesses whether you manufacture in-house, outsource production to contract manufacturers, or buy finished goods from suppliers. Many of our customers don’t manufacture anything themselves.
Katana’s outsourced purchase orders let you track materials sent to contract manufacturers and monitor when finished goods are due back. You maintain visibility into what’s in production, track batch numbers for traceability, and update inventory automatically when goods are received.
No. While Katana has powerful manufacturing features, many customers use Katana without touching those features. Distributors, wholesalers, ecommerce brands, and any business managing physical products can use Katana.
Katana handles hybrid models. Use manufacturing features for products you make in-house, and outsourced purchase orders for products made by contract manufacturers. Everything flows into the same inventory and sales order system.
You can track materials sent to contract manufacturers and finished goods due back using Katana’s multi-location inventory. For real-time visibility into their facility, you’d rely on partner updates, which you can log in Katana to keep records current.
Get visibility over your sales and stock
Wave goodbye to uncertainty with Katana Cloud Inventory — AI-powered for total inventory control
