# Food Manufacturing Analytics: Yield, Giveaway, Batch Cost > Ask production and ERP data about yield against recipe, giveaway by filler, batch cost, QA holds and short-dated stock, and get yesterday by line each morning. HTML version: https://supaboard.ai/industry/food-manufacturing **Know what every batch yielded, gave away and cost.** Connect your production and ERP data and ask in plain English: yield against the recipe, giveaway by filler, batch cost against standard, stock close to its date. Then keep the morning line report and the QA hold watch on a schedule. For food processors, bakeries, dairies and beverage producers, and the plant, QA and finance teams that run their lines. ## Every question, by who asks it ### Lines and yield - Yield by line and product last week, against the recipe - Giveaway % by filler yesterday, against the 1% target - Batch cost against standard last month: what drove the difference? ### Quality and traceability - QA holds this week: what's on hold, why, and for how long - Batches rejected at QA this month, by product and reason - Packs more than the TNE under their declared weight last week, by filler - Every finished lot made with supplier lot SL-4471, and where it shipped ### Stock, shelf life and waste - Stock within 14 days of expiry, by warehouse - Lots shipped last month with less than two-thirds of their shelf life left, by customer - Waste by reason last month, in kg and at standard cost ## Keep it running - **Yesterday, line by line** (Daily 06:00). Yield, giveaway and QA rejections for every line and shift, summarised in the plant manager's inbox before the morning meeting. Automation: Timed Start → Query Your Data → Summarize Insights → Send Email. - **QA holds past 48 hours** (Every 5 minutes). A SQL check finds lots on QA hold for more than 48 hours and emails the QA manager with the reason and the quantity held. Automation: Alerts → Send Email. - **The plant datasite** (Every morning). Today's holds, short-dated stock and yesterday's yield by line, on a private datasite the plant, QA and sales teams sign in to with Google or Microsoft. ## The numbers it keeps watch on | Measure | Definition | Source | In Supaboard | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | Yield | Good output ÷ the recipe's theoretical output for the ingredients used | Common practice | Daily report, by line | | Giveaway | (Average filled weight − declared weight) ÷ declared weight | Common practice | Daily report, by filler | | Packs short of the limit | Packs below their declared quantity by more than the limit for their size: the TNE in UK average-quantity rules, the MAV in NIST Handbook 133 | UK Packaged Goods Regs 2006; NIST Handbook 133 | A rule, then the daily report | | Batch cost variance | Actual batch cost − standard cost for the actual output, split into price, usage, labour and packaging | Common practice | Monthly report | | Short-dated stock | Stock within N days of its use-by or best-before date, by warehouse and lot | Common practice | Morning report | | QA hold time | Hours from hold to release or rejection, by reason | Common practice | Alert at 48 hours | | Waste | Kilograms written off by reason, valued at standard cost | Common practice | Monthly question | | Lot trace | Ingredient lot to finished lots to customers, linked by lot code at receiving, production and shipping | FDA 21 CFR 1 Subpart S, for listed foods; not enforced before 20 Jul 2028 | Ask it when a supplier calls | ## Where your data lives - [SQL Server](https://supaboard.ai/integrations/ms-sql-server): connects live - [Postgres](https://supaboard.ai/integrations/postgresql): connects live - [MySQL](https://supaboard.ai/integrations/my-sql): connects live - Oracle: connects live Or attach an export to a conversation, as CSV or Excel: Checkweigher exports. The tables these questions read: Production batches and lots, with expiry dates and line hours; Recipes and bills of materials, with standard yields and costs; Checkweigher readings: filled against declared weight, by filler; QA holds, releases and rejections, with reasons; Ingredient receipts by supplier lot, and lot consumption by batch; Sales, dispatches and stock by lot and warehouse. ## Teach it your definitions once Rules are read with every question, so a term means the same thing in Chat, in Slack and in the Monday report. - Rule: "Yield is good output ÷ the recipe's theoretical output for the ingredients used, in kg." - Rule: "Giveaway is the average filled weight over the declared weight; underfills are counted apart." - Rule: "Short-dated means within 14 days of the use-by or best-before date." [How rules work](https://supaboard.ai/product/knowledge-and-rules) ## Security - **Read-only by construction.** Database and warehouse queries are read-only. We give you the SQL for a read-only user too. - **Credentials stay in the workspace.** Scoped to the one workspace that connected them, never logged and never sent back to a browser. - **SOC 2 Type II.** An organisation-wide audit of the platform, covering every plan. ## FAQ ### Can it read our checkweigher data? Yes. If the readings land in a table in a database you connect, giveaway by filler is one question and can go in the morning report. For a one-off look, attach a CSV export to a conversation and ask about it. ### Can it trace a supplier lot to the customers who received it? Yes, when your records link ingredient lots to batches and batches to dispatches. Ask for the lot, and the answer lists every finished lot made from it, where each one shipped and what is still in stock. ### How does it learn our definition of yield? Write it once as a rule, such as "yield is good output ÷ the recipe's theoretical output". The agent reads its rules with every question, and you can save reviewed SQL as examples. ### Can the plant get yesterday's numbers every morning? Yes. An automation runs at 06:00 in the plant's timezone, queries yesterday's batches, summarises them and emails the plant manager. ### Can it change anything in our ERP or production records? No. Database and warehouse queries are read-only. We give you the SQL to create a read-only user. ## More in Industrial & Manufacturing - [Precision Manufacturing](https://supaboard.ai/industry/precision-manufacturing): Department costs, scrap by operation, on-time delivery and receivables, from your ERP. - [Wholesale & Distribution](https://supaboard.ai/industry/wholesale-distribution): Margin by customer, fill rate, stock ageing and receivables, from your ERP. - [Construction](https://supaboard.ai/industry/construction): Cost to complete, change orders, retainage and labour hours, by job. Supaboard is [the AI data analyst connected to your business data](https://supaboard.ai/). For the background on this industry, read [Manufacturing analytics: why it matters more than ever](https://supaboard.ai/blog/manufacturing-analytics). [All industries](https://supaboard.ai/industry). --- - Site index for agents: https://supaboard.ai/llms.txt - Sitemap: https://supaboard.ai/sitemap.xml - Blog feed: https://supaboard.ai/blog/rss.xml - Product documentation: https://docs.supaboard.ai Any page on https://supaboard.ai is available as markdown: append `.md` to its path, or send `Accept: text/markdown`.