Production runs

Hotel editions. On Reservation ERP (Gold) this module is called Precision Cooking and this screen is Cooking Runs. Everything below works the same way.

A run is one batch actually made. You pick a recipe, say how many batches, and the system works out what will be consumed, what will be produced, and what each finished unit costs. When you complete the run, the raw materials come out of stock and the finished goods go in.

Nothing moves until you complete it. Up to that point a run is just a plan you can change freely.

Before you start

• You need a production recipe. If you make things without a fixed recipe, use Consume Raw Materials and Receive Finished Goods instead.
• The raw materials must be in stock in the department doing the producing. A run will not complete while any of them is short.

The four states of a run

Steps

1. Open Manufacturing → Production Runs and click New production run.
2. Choose the recipe, the department producing it, and how many batches. One batch is whatever quantity the recipe was written for.
3. Set the production date. Raw materials are costed at their average cost on that date, so use the day it was really made.
4. Check the Produces and Consumes panels. They fill in from the recipe and update as you change the batch count.
5. Add any production expenses — overheads that belong to this batch. For each one choose the expense account it is charged to and, under Owed to, the vendor or liability account it is owed to. They join the cost and are shared across the outputs. A run will not complete while an expense is missing either side.
6. If the recipe allows adjustment, correct the quantity of each output to what you actually got.
7. Click Start run to save it as a draft.
8. When production finishes, click Complete run.

What "complete" actually does

• Raw materials leave the producing department.
• Finished goods enter it, each valued at its share of the batch cost.
• Any output marked Send to another department is transferred there.
• Production expenses post to their accounts.
• The item's average cost is recalculated across the company.

Batch numbers and expiry dates

If any output is batch-tracked, completing the run creates a new stock lot for it. The run fills both fields in for you:

• Batch # — taken from the run's own batch number, e.g. PRD-412. When one run makes several products they are numbered PRD-412-1, PRD-412-2 and so on, so two lots from the same run can never share a code.
• Expires — the production date plus the shelf life on the recipe.

Change either on the run if this batch is an exception. If the expiry is blank, the run will not complete: a lot with no expiry can never be picked in expiry-order and never shows on an expiry report.

Batch-tracked raw materials need no attention. The run draws them earliest-expiry-first automatically, which is what the store would hand you anyway.

Yield: what you expected against what you got

The Yield vs recipe column compares what you actually produced with what the recipe said this many batches should yield.

• on yield — you got what was expected.
• −3% in grey — you lost some, but no more than the recipe's Expected waste % allows. That is normal loss: its cost is absorbed by the good units, which is why they cost slightly more.
• −12% (7% above normal) in amber — you lost more than expected. The part above normal is called out because it should not be quietly buried in the unit cost; it is a signal about the batch, not a fact about the product.
• +8 over — you produced more than the recipe predicted. Usually a sign the recipe's batch quantity has drifted and is worth updating.

None of this stops a run completing. A bad batch is still a real batch and has to be recorded; the point is that you can see it.

Making a run right when it goes wrong

Once a run is completed you cannot edit it — editing a posted run would rewrite history. Instead click Reverse run and give a reason. That undoes every posting and keeps both the original run and your reason on the record. Then start a fresh run with the correct figures.

A Draft or Released run has posted nothing, so you can simply cancel or delete it.

Tips

• Use Released when production is handed over but not finished. It tells everyone the batch is under way without pretending it is done.
• The cost summary at the top always tells you whether the cost is fully allocated. If it says something is unaccounted for, the run will not complete — that is deliberate, because a batch whose cost does not add up would leave the accounts out of balance.
• Enter by-products and waste on the recipe, not the run. Then every run gets them automatically and the good product is not left carrying their cost.
• Your typing is saved as a draft, so you can leave a half-built run and return.

Common problems

• "Complete run" is greyed out → the cost does not balance yet. The summary panel says what is wrong: usually no output is set to carry the cost, or a by-product's recovery value is more than the batch cost.
• "The department does not have enough raw material" → transfer stock in first, or reduce the batches. The shortage list names each item and the shortfall. If you know the balance is behind, enter the missing purchase or adjustment first so the run is costed on real stock.
• "This run has already posted…" → you are trying to edit or delete a completed run. Reverse it instead.
• "Reversing a completed run needs a reason" → type the reason in the box before clicking Reverse. It goes on the permanent record.
• "This run has been cancelled" → cancelled runs are final. Create a new one.
• The unit cost looks wrong → raw materials are costed at the company-wide average cost on the production date, not at what you last paid. A stale average usually means a purchase has not been entered yet.
• "… is batch-tracked and needs an expiry date" → the item carries expiry dates but its recipe has no shelf life. Add one to the recipe, or type the date on this run.
• An output shows "recovery value" → it is a by-product, scrap or reject. Those are valued at what they are worth and taken out of the batch cost rather than being charged a share, so the main product carries the rest.