Food and drink production business process automation
Food and drink production business process automation means every ingredient, batch, best-before date and finished product of a producer is recorded once at intake inside its ERP and carried through production, despatch and invoice, so traceability holds without a spreadsheet. Every ingredient and finished product carries a batch and best-before, and traceability must hold from intake to despatch. FlyWei maps that chain in your ERP, from ingredient and packaging purchase orders to batch costing and VAT, then joins the links up so the same fact is never typed twice. Start with the Chain Map: half a day on site, one written map.
Half a day on site, a written two page map, the one link to fix first and a fixed pilot quote. The fee is credited in full against the pilot.
Batch traceability from intake to despatch: we map it in your ERP
In a typical UK food or drink producer the batch and best-before are written on the intake sheet, typed into a traceability spreadsheet, and typed again when the finished product is booked to stock. Retail customers each demand their own invoice format, and a traceability query means an afternoon with the folders. A producer with 15 to 150 staff runs the same seven links as any goods business, and each link is a place the same fact is typed twice.
Every ingredient and finished product carries a batch and best-before, and traceability must hold from intake to despatch. We map that in your ERP.
- 7
- links in the chain, from ingredient and packaging pos to batch costing and vat
- Half a day
- on site for the Chain Map, with the people who run each link
- 2 pages
- the written map you leave with, plus a baseline from your own data
- 1
- link to fix first, with a fixed pilot quote credited in full against the pilot
The seven links, in food and drink production words
Every goods business runs the same seven links. Here is what each link is called in a typical UK food or drink producer, and what keyed once looks like at each one. Our delivered track record is in wholesale; the food and drink production chain follows the same method, mapped in your own ERP.
| # | Stage | In your words | Typed once |
|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | Purchasing | Ingredient and packaging POs | Ingredient and packaging reorders driven by the production plan and live stock, approved by role and sent as one purchase order |
| 02 | Goods in | Intake with batch and date | Batch and best-before captured at intake by scan and matched to the purchase order, so the record exists before the pallet is put away |
| 03 | Stock | Stock by batch, oldest first | One live quantity per ingredient and batch, oldest first, with quarantined batches kept out of production |
| 04 | Allocation | Allocation by shelf life | Ingredient usage booked to the production batch as it runs, and finished goods allocated to orders by remaining shelf life |
| 05 | Goods out | Chilled or ambient despatch | Despatch recorded on device against the order, with the batch numbers on the delivery note and temperature notes kept on the job |
| 06 | Invoices | Invoices in customer format | Invoices produced from the despatch in the format each retailer or wholesaler demands, with their order reference carried through |
| 07 | Accounts | Batch costing and VAT | Supplier invoices matched to the purchase order and intake record, batch costs posted to the ledger and the VAT return generated |
What we would automate first
These are the four joins we would map first in a typical UK food or drink producer. Each one is the same fact, typed by a second person into a second screen, and each one is where a difference hides until the customer or the supplier finds it.
- 01
Batch and best-before captured at intake and matched to the PO, no spreadsheet
- 02
Ingredient usage booked to the production batch as it runs, so stock stays true
- 03
Invoices produced in the format each retailer or wholesaler demands
- 04
Ingredient reorders driven by the production plan, not a walk round the store
Map, design, build, run
- 01
Map
The Chain Map. One engineer spends half a day on site walking purchasing, goods in, stock, goods out, invoicing and accounts as they run today, and marks every point where a person re-keys or chases. You get a written two page map, a baseline taken from your own data and countersigned by both sides, the one link to fix first and a fixed pilot quote. One fixed fee, credited in full against the pilot.
Book a Chain Map - 02
Design
We decide which steps your ERP handles, which need a module, and which need a connection. Written down and agreed before anything is coded.
- 03
Build and connect
Modules, portals, device apps and integrations built and tested in staging, then released through a controlled route with rollback.
- 04
Run
Our AI specialist engineers stay on: users, changes, faults, documentation and the next stage of automation, under an agreed work plan.
Questions food and drink producers ask
What does food and drink production business process automation cover?
The seven links a producer runs every day: ingredient and packaging purchase orders, intake with batch and date, stock by batch oldest first, allocation by shelf life, chilled or ambient despatch, invoices in customer format, and batch costing and VAT. Each fact is entered once at intake and every later record is built from it inside the ERP you already run.
How is batch traceability held without a spreadsheet?
The batch and best-before are captured once, at intake, by scan against the purchase order. Ingredient usage is booked to the production batch as it runs, and the finished batch is despatched with its numbers on the delivery note. A traceability query then runs forward or backward from the ERP by batch, rather than from the intake folders.
Can invoices be produced in the format each retailer demands?
Yes, by method. Each customer's required format, references and line detail are held against the account, and the invoice is produced from the despatch in that format automatically, with the customer's order reference carried through. One despatch record, one invoice per customer format, nothing re-typed.
How are ingredient reorders driven by the production plan?
The production plan, the recipe and the live stock by batch already hold what is needed. The join is a reorder proposal the buyer approves rather than a walk round the store, and approved proposals become purchase orders without re-keying. Intake later posts against the same order, which closes the loop for the three-way match.
Does this work with the ERP we already run?
Yes. We build inside the ERP through its API, its database or a scheduled import, rather than replacing it. Where the platform lacks a step, such as intake by scan with batch and date, a production booking screen or a customer invoice format, we write the module. The Chain Map shows which case you are in.
Have you done this for a food producer before?
Our delivered track record is in wholesale, where the chain we built and run books goods in against the purchase order, allocates orders from live stock and raises invoices from deliveries every day. In food and drink production the chain follows the same method, relabelled as batches, shelf life and customer formats, inside the ERP you run. We map your version before we quote for any build.
Start with the Chain Map for your food and drink production business
Half a day on site with the people who raise the orders, book the goods in and chase the invoices. You leave with a written map, a countersigned baseline and a fixed pilot quote. No fee is published; it is credited in full against the pilot.
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