Production planning

Stephane Laviolette
@stephane-laviolette
11/29/12 11:55:12
15 posts

Hi

I own a small business, I only cater to retail stores and with the holidays and a recent trade show I signed up some new clients, which is always good news, but with 2013 just around the corner I want to start the new year better prepared.

I want to establish some sort of system for my production, I have been around on the net and didn't really find anything remotely close to what I would like to have, so I am wondering what you guys do.

I currently carry about 20 different products, all available in white,milk and dark, creating over 60 different sku's, and I will have another 20 very soon. I would like some sort of software where I can enter my orders, inventory, etc right now I work with a bunch of papers, with no real order, it's messy and I sometimes end up with not enough of this and too much of that.

What do you guys use to keep things efficient in the production area ? to make sure you are fulfilling your orders on time and correctly ? any input would be appreciated.

thanks !


updated by @stephane-laviolette: 04/09/15 14:46:51
Omar Forastero
@omar-forastero
12/02/12 01:05:28
86 posts

Hi stephane,

I use excel to manage my orders but like you I always wonder wether there is something more efficient. What I do is I put all the orders together and add the number of every type of chocolate. for example let's say you have 5 places who asked for dark 70% chocolate, I make sure I make all the quantity at the same time to avoid changes and as a result saving time. I also make sure I produce a little extra knowing that this chocolate is ordered alot and future orders are coming the next day/week etc.. This also depends on the shelf life of your products. I usually start producing the chocolate that has the longer shelf life and move down the list.

Also comparing your sales is crucial. I look at last year's sale of each kind I produced. It gives me an idea how much I should expect to produce this month.

RebeccaC
@rebeccac
12/02/12 10:40:13
8 posts

I use Quickbooks Online. I enter my orders as they come in, using the ship/delivery date as the invoice date, then before I start production I run a report of what products are scheduled to ship or be delivered that week. (I now have these reports set to auto-run each week and they are automatically e-mailed to me.) It's also just a great small business accounting tool due to the reports it offers (although I have an accountant friend who hates it!).

In addition, I post each individual order on the wall and arrange them by ship/delivery date, highlighting any important bits (i.e., add extra samples, etc.).

Most of the time this manages to keep us on track.

Tags

Member Marketplace


Activity

kapil jain
 
kapil jain
 
kapil jain
 
@kapil-jain • 7 years ago

Chocolatevenue is an online chocolate store in India.We are specialized in customized chocolates  .Chocolates can be customized as chocolate message and chocolate bars.

You can get written your message on chocolates and can get customized your chocolate bars by selecting the desired ingredients.

for more details

 

colorchocolate
 
@colorchocolate • 7 years ago

FOR SALE / BARGAIN / FINE CACAO LIQUOR, COLOMBIA ORIGIN

Enjoy a delicious premium chocolate from the Boyacá region of Colombia, considered among the best in the world. We offer a 200 kilograms lot of pure origin cocoa liquor,  fair trade / ethically sourced. N o other ingredients added.

The price for this high quality product is as follows:

1 kg - US$ 13

100 kg - US$ 12 per kilo

200 kg - US$ 11 per kilo

Inquires: equalcolombia@gmail.com

- See more at: https://www.thechocolatelife.com/colorchocolate#sthash.JFDWYFuK.dpuf

- See more at: https://www.thechocolatelife.com/community/forums/my_posts/18453/fine-cacao-liquor-colombia-origin#sthash.2pUq4Eu3.dpuf

Clay Gordon
 
@clay • 7 years ago

FCIA Recognition of Excellence Nominations close in one week:

Clay Gordon
 
The 4 Chocolatiers
 
@the-4-chocolatiers • 7 years ago

Two changes we made with the chocolate is that this time we winnowed the chocolate. This time we didn't use a blow dryer to melt the chocolate. Two improvements with the chocolate is that the melanger didn't get clogged this time and everyone put in work.