Production
Starting a batch
How to start a production batch against an approved recipe, full or quick, and what Crown sets up when you do.
A batch is one production run of a product. Starting it creates the live production record you'll work through on the floor: the stages to complete, the lots you consume, and the finished goods you produce all hang off it.
Before you start
An approved recipe version. You can only start a batch against a product that has an approved recipe; draft recipes aren't selectable. If your recipe is still in draft, approve it first.
Starting a batch
- Open Batches and start a new one
Open Batches from the main menu and click '+ New batch'. The new-batch drawer opens on the right.
- Choose the product
Pick the product you're making. Only products with an approved recipe can be picked, and Crown chooses that product's latest approved recipe version. When the product has more than one approved version, they're listed under it with their stages, batch size and description: select the one this batch runs on. If you select one whose ingredients, steps or CCP checks differ from the latest's, a note under it names the differences. Your food safety plan follows the latest version, so a step only the selected version has isn't covered by its hazard analysis. The batch can still start.
- Choose the batch mode
Pick Full batch or Quick batch (see below). Full batch is the normal choice for recipe-guided production.
- Review the preflight checks
Crown shows what the recipe needs against what's on hand: ingredient quantities (leaving out expired lots and what open batches still need), plus any calibration or held-lot warnings. These are advisory and don't block the start; you'll pick actual lots on the production floor. Notes from the product's last batch show here too (see below).
- Start the batch
Add an optional note and select Start batch. Crown assigns a batch number and opens the batch in progress, ready to record against.
Notes from the last batch
Once you choose a product, New batch shows From the last batch: the notes left on that product's most recent batch, so what the team learned last time reaches this run. It lists:
- Batch notes: the note on that batch itself, such as one added when it was started.
- Notes during the batch: each note added on the production floor, with when it was written and whether it's in the batch record.
- Step notes: how many steps have a note, with a link to open the batch and read them.
The panel stays on the new batch's page while the batch is in progress, so it's in front of whoever works the floor. It's there to read; nothing needs acknowledging. The last batch is the product's most recently started one, whatever its status or recipe version. Archived batches are skipped, and if the last batch has no notes, nothing shows.
Full batch vs. quick batch
Full batch walks the recipe's stages and items in order on the production floor, with lot assignment and measurements recorded as you go. Use it for normal production; it builds the complete traceability and monitoring record.
Quick batch skips stage-by-stage execution and captures the essentials in a single form: ingredient lots, the recipe's critical control point readings, packaging counts, and yield. Use it for rework, R&D runs, or logging production that happened off-system. As on the full-batch floor, every critical control point needs a reading (or a logged deviation) before you can complete the batch, and an out-of-range CCP reading raises a deviation automatically.
Your progress is saved. A quick batch saves as you type: the indicator in the form header shows 'Saving…' and then 'Progress saved' as you work. You can leave and resume the form later, including from another device; the draft clears when you complete the batch.
Print a batch slip
The batch slip is a one-page paper companion for a batch: the product, batch number, product code, planned quantity, date created, and current status. You can print one at any point in the batch's life. Click Print Batch Slip at the top of any batch page to open the print dialog, where a live preview updates as you adjust the options:
- Paper size: a full sheet, labelled '8.5 × 11 in (Letter)', for a binder or clipboard, or '4 × 6 in' and '4 × 3 in' for label and tag printers.
- Header: toggles to show or hide your company logo and company name.
- Notes: an optional free-text note printed on the slip, with size (Small, Normal, Large), bold, and left or center alignment. Useful for a target completion date or a handling instruction for the floor.
When the preview looks right, choose Download to save the PDF or Open to print to print it straight away.
Every slip carries a QR code captioned 'Scan to open this batch'. Scan it with Crown's scanner or a phone camera to jump straight to that batch's record, so the paper on a clipboard or vessel always leads back to the live batch.
Print the full batch record
The batch slip is the paper that goes out to the floor. The batch record is the document that comes back: the complete production record for the run, and the one an inspector asks for.
Select Batch Record in the batch header, beside Print Batch Slip. It's available on any batch that's under way; a batch still in planning has nothing to show yet.
The document runs to seven sections:
- Batch identity: what was made, against which recipe version, when.
- Ingredients consumed: every lot that went in, with quantities and supplier lot codes, plus any substitutions.
- Production steps: each item recorded, by whom, and when.
- Deviations: anything raised against the batch and how it was resolved.
- Lab tests: results and decisions.
- Finished goods produced: the lots that came out.
- Notes on the record: anything flagged onto the batch record.
What's next
With the batch open, work through the floor. See Recording production steps.