Production process map

How to digitize catering production from plan to execution

From order planning to the finished, packed meal.

A practical guide for catering operators showing how to digitize the entire production cycle — from planning and recipes, through shop-floor execution and packing, to logistics, SLA reporting, and data analytics.

10 chapters
~30 min read
Free PDF

Production process map

How to digitize catering production from plan to execution

About this ebook

From production plan to plated meal — in one connected process

This guide lays out the full map of catering production processes and explains how operators can digitize the whole operational cycle — from order planning and recipe management, through shop-floor execution and packing, to logistics, SLA reporting, and data analytics. It walks through the processes worth describing, structuring, and moving into a system so you can scale production, cut errors, and manage on data.

Who it's for

Operations directors and production managers
Quality managers and food technologists
IT and digital transformation leaders
Owners and executives of catering companies

Inside the ebook

What's inside

Ten chapters — from the process map to a step-by-step rollout.

01The catering production process map at a glanceThe complete map of processes behind modern catering production — from orders to reporting.
02Why catering production needs its own process mapWhy a classic ERP or Excel falls short with variable volumes, diets, recipes, cut-offs, and tight deadlines.
03From orders to the production plan — how data should flowHow data from orders, headcounts, contracts, and menus should flow into the production plan — without manual re-keying.
04Recipes, portions, and losses — standardizing them in the systemHow to build a digital base of recipes, ingredients, portions, allergens, and losses so production, purchasing, and controlling share one dataset.
05Planning production orders: aggregation, scheduling, work cellsHow to create and merge orders, aggregate volumes, split production across sites, and plan work in a cell or line model.
06Shop-floor execution — tablets, instructions, and real-time reportingHow to bring the production plan to the floor: stations, tablets, instructions, live statuses, and flagging delays, errors, and re-planning.
07Packing and labeling — eliminating errors at the end of the lineHow to control packing completeness, labels, diets, allergens, and order-to-dispatch accuracy to cut complaints.
08Outbound logistics, deliveries, and SLA managementHow to link production to logistics, delivery windows, receipt confirmations, complaints, and SLA timeliness for clients and sites.
09Data, reporting, and operational analyticsWhich production data to collect and how to turn it into dashboards for production, controlling, management, and quality.
10The transformation roadmap — rolling out digitization step by stepHow to move from the process map to a rollout: audit, prioritization, MVP, module rollout, team training, and analytics growth.