Production
Recording a co-packed run
How to set up a co-packer, mark a product as made by one, and record a run they made so its lots, paperwork and trace live in Crown.
When a co-packer makes your product, you don't run the stages yourself, but you still sell, hold, release and ship the finished lots, and you still need to answer where they came from. Recording the run gives those lots a batch, names the co-packer and their batch number on it, and keeps their paperwork with it.
Before you start
A co-packer on your supplier list. A co-packer is a supplier whose procurement channel is Contract manufacturer. Set one up below if you haven't.
A product made by a co-packer. Set it below if you haven't.
Set up the co-packer
- Open the supplier
Open Suppliers from the main menu and add the co-packer, or open one you already have.
- Choose Contract manufacturer
In the drawer's Qualification section, set Procurement channel to Contract manufacturer. The co-packer then appears wherever a run asks who made it.
Their licence and certifications belong on this supplier record, with expiry dates, so you don't upload them for every run. Each run's own batch record and certificate go on the run. See Setting up your suppliers.
Set the product
Open the product and set Made by:
- In our facility: your own team makes it.
- At a co-packer: a co-packer makes it. A product made this way doesn't need a recipe, and your food safety plan shows the co-packer's step instead of recipe stages.
- Both: some batches are made by you and some by a co-packer.
For At a co-packer or Both, Usual co-packer is optional. It pre-fills the co-packer when you record a run.
Record the run
Open Batches and select + New batch. Once any product is made at a co-packer, the first question is Where was this batch made? Choose At a co-packer and select Next. (Start from a product made only at a co-packer and the question is skipped.)
The run opens on its own page with five steps on the left. Copy each from the co-packer's batch record. Progress saves as you go, so you can leave and come back; select Discard draft to clear it. Your company holds one draft at a time.
Co-packer and product
Choose the co-packer, enter Their batch number if it differs from the lot code, set the Date made, and choose the product. If the product has an approved recipe, Use recipe gives you target quantities for the ingredients. Leave it off if the co-packer owns the formula.
Ingredients that went in
For each ingredient, say where its lot came from:
- From our stock: you sent your own lot. Pick the lot and the quantity used. It leaves your stock when you record the run.
- Sourced by the co-packer: they bought it. Enter their supplier, the supplier lot code and the quantity from their batch record. It never appears in your stock, but a trace or supplier recall on that lot code finds this batch.
- Not recorded: the co-packer holds it. The trace and mock recall say so for that ingredient.
Use Add an ingredient not in the recipe for anything extra. An ingredient not yet in your list can be added from here, allergens included, and you return to the step with it picked.
Production output
Enter the units made of each size (a product with no sizes records one quantity). All sizes share one lot code. Choose how to get it:
- Use our lot code format: Crown generates the code from your format, for when you told the co-packer what to print.
- Enter the co-packer's code: type exactly what is printed on the package.
Best before starts from the product's shelf life, counted from the date made. Change it to match the label.
Documents
Attach Their batch record, the Certificate of analysis and any Other paperwork. A certificate for one lot or size only can be added on that lot later. You can record the run without a certificate and add it afterwards.
Review and record
Check the summary, then select Record the run. The summary ends with a plain statement of what recording does: which lots leave your stock, the lot it creates on hold, and that the batch opens at Internal QC.
After you record
The batch opens at Internal QC with its lots on hold, and carries a Co-packed batch badge. The Made by card names the co-packer and their batch number, and the ingredients table shows where each lot came from.
From here it follows the normal path in Releasing a batch: send it to a lab or release it. If no certificate of analysis is attached, a banner on the batch and a notice in the release confirmation say so. Release is not blocked, so add the certificate under Documents when it arrives.
The co-packer and their batch also appear on the lot drawer, the trace, the mock recall PDF, the batch record PDF and your food safety plan. A trace from a lot reaches the co-packer, and a trace from an ingredient lot you sent or they sourced reaches this batch. See Tracing a lot.
What you can't do
A co-packed batch can't be reworked in Crown. Dispose of it, or record the co-packer's rework as a new co-packed run.