Recipe Management System

What Is a Recipe Management System?

A recipe management system is a software application that manages the complex relationships and processes related to a company’s production recipes. They store the recipes, enable recipe modification, generate data required for production records, and even provide the ability to launch tasks and processes. Recipe management systems are most effective when integrated with a manufacturing execution system (MES) or other higher-level control systems. Recipe management can also be a module within an MES.

In manufacturing, a recipe is a set of instructions or steps needed to operate a machine, combine ingredients or raw materials in a certain way and in certain ratios, or otherwise process the materials to achieve the desired end product. Regardless of how complex or simple the manufacturing environment, whether discrete, process or batch, it is common to have a long list of component parts or ingredients, many pieces of equipment and hundreds of steps to follow before the end product is considered complete. Some manufacturing lines even switch frequently between different products; some require elaborate equipment cleaning protocols to be followed between batches; and most execute multiple batches on a given day – all of which must be coordinated.

Common Features of a Recipe Management System

• Recipe versioning.
• Recipe archiving.
• Allocation of equipment.
• Automation of recipe procedures.
• Product variant control between similar products.
• Generation of material flow, execution and quality data for production records.

What Are the Benefits of a Recipe Management System?

Recipes are required for a production process to run. The right recipe can mean the difference between producing a compliant good on the one hand, and increased production costs and delays caused by rework, scrap and reduced throughput on the other. The right recipe management system can help coordinate the readiness and interaction of machinery, materials, workers and procedures in order to execute the recipe and achieve the end product as efficiently as possible.

The primary benefits of a recipe management system include:

• Optimizing the setup of production lines.
• Achieving repeatable quality despite constantly changing material, machine and personnel parameters.
• Reducing the cost of compliance.
• Responding more readily to changing demand, new opportunities or formulations, and other market conditions.

Increase the Effectiveness of Your Recipe Management System With Automation

MasterControl Manufacturing Excellence software is designed under the premise that process automation and system integration are essential for any manufacturer to reach its maximum potential through smart manufacturing and digital transformation. Based on input from industry veterans with years of collective experience on a manufacturing floor, MasterControl’s innovative new manufacturing solutions enable unprecedented operational efficiencies, whether as stand-alone systems or integrated with your existing IT infrastructure, including a recipe management system.

MasterControl Manufacturing Excellence allows companies to:

• Capture and compile production record data in a central location: Automatically consolidate critical production data from multiple systems in one convenient access point, improving data integrity and transparency.
• Get to market faster by automatically generating compliant documentation as product is manufactured: Avoid the long holding times of days, weeks or even months while documentation is reviewed and approved by QA by synchronizing document creation with the manufacturing process and letting the system verify in real time that data and documentation requirements are being upheld.
• Adopt more agile manufacturing processes to better meet market demand: With greater visibility into your operations and aided by predictive analytics, you can make strategic decisions more confidently and efficiently to respond to changing production and market conditions.
• Improve both workforce and equipment efficiency: Your machinery has all manner of automated tracking capabilities to monitor and optimize performance and alert you to issues. Gain the same level of actionable insight about team performance, consistent usage of SOPs and employee training.
• Reduce production downtime and inefficiencies: Quality events and bottlenecks happen, but they don’t need to disrupt your productivity. MasterControl Manufacturing Excellence delivers data at a glance that can help you pinpoint and quickly address problem areas.
• Expedite the digitalization process: The benefits of going paperless cannot be overstated, and more companies are embarking on a digital transformation journey to get up to speed with today’s powerful automation, connectivity and analytics technology. Digitizing your inefficient and error-prone paper-based documentation processes and minimizing manual data entry translates to major time and cost savings.

Learn More About MasterControl Manufacturing Excellence

For more information about MasterControl Manufacturing Excellence and how it can complement your recipe management system, please contact a MasterControl representative.