Process control: times and temperatures in the production order
All plans
How to define processes with a timer and their quality checks in the recipe, and how the team fills them in on each production order.
What it is for
Some steps in production can’t be left to memory: the baking time, the core temperature of the product as it comes out of the oven, blast chilling before it goes into the cold room. Process control lets you define them once in the recipe, with their timer and their check questions, so the team follows them and records them in every production order.
That way each lot keeps its record of times and temperatures, which is the evidence for the critical control points in your HACCP. It’s set up by whoever designs the recipes or the quality manager, and filled in by the production team.
Before you start
- Have the recipe created (see Create a recipe).
- Decide which stages you check and with what values: for example, baking for 45 minutes and a core temperature of at least 72 °C.
- Processes are set up by users with permission to edit recipes; anyone running the order can fill them in.
Set up the processes in the recipe
Open the recipe and, in the Recipe options menu, go to Process control.
Create the process
Click Create process and enter the Process name (for example, “Baking”). To copy those from another recipe, use Import (Import processes from another recipe).
Switch on the timer
Tick Activate timer and enter the Usual duration (minutes). It can be adjusted when the process is started; with no duration there’s no countdown or alert.
Add the quality checks
Click Configure controls and then Add control. Enter the Control name (“Core temperature”) and choose the Control type.
| Control type | What it’s for |
|---|---|
| Text | A free answer: “Sourdough lot”, a note. |
| Selection | Choosing one option from a drop-down list. |
| Single choice | A single answer among several visible ones: “Correct / Incorrect”. |
| Multiple choice | Ticking several boxes: the steps of a checklist. |
| Numeric range | A value between a Minimum value and a Maximum value: a temperature, a pH, degrees Brix. |
45 min · 2 checks
Core temperature (Numeric range 60–95) · Surface colour (Single choice)
90 min · 1 check
Temperature on entering the cold room (Numeric range 0–10)
2No checks configured
- 1With timer: the countdown with its alarm will appear in the production order and on the board.
- 2A process without checks is used to mark the step and record its time.
Fill them in on the production order
Start the order
In the production order, click Start production and then Start process. The Process control wizard opens, step by step.
Timer and checks
At each step, Start chronometer (or Pause chronometer) and answer the checks. All the questions must be answered before you can move on with Next.
Close it and come back whenever you like
The answers are saved. You can close the wizard and pick it up again with Continue process. Once all the processes are complete, Finish production appears.
Processes with a timer can also be handled from the active production orders board, with an alarm on the computer or on the workshop display. In itineraries, bulk production requires the pending checks to be answered first.
Steps as food safety records
This feature is being tested and will be released shortly.
The measurements of a process (temperature, pH, time) are saved in the production order as food safety records: they show who took the measurement, when, and what result it gave.
- Reading out of range: it is saved as read, marked as out of range. Write the corrective action, for example “product held”, “time extended” or “checked by quality”.
- The duration is: a guide, a required minimum or an allowed maximum. If it is a food safety limit, when you stop the timer Recipok warns you if it is not met and asks for the corrective action before you continue.
- Durations are measured in your company’s time zone, so the timer does not drift.
Photos as a check
This feature is being tested and will be released shortly.
A check can be a photo instead of a number, for example of the label already applied to the pack. It is taken from the production order with the tablet or phone:
- Click Take photo. If it does not come out right, click Retake photo.
- Then, View photo lets you check it.
Photos in JPG, PNG or WebP format, of up to 10 MB, are accepted.
Tips
If your HACCP plan has a critical control point at a production stage (baking, pasteurisation), link it to these checks with Monitor in the production order: it’s monitored in every lot and the operator’s answers are the evidence.
A few well-chosen checks. A production order with ten questions ends up being filled in without looking. Daily cold room and cleaning checks belong in the HACCP records, not here.