At Off The Deck Hot Sauce, our key ingredients need at least 24 hours’ notice. The farmers who grow them can’t fill an order we place the morning we need it. That one constraint changed how we start production: we plan a week of work at a time, because it keeps our farmers happy and our overhead tight.
When we skip that planning, nothing dramatic happens. We just drive more. Kitchen time slots get booked badly. Something gets forgotten. No single miss costs much, but together they add up fast.
If you lead a shift, you know the floor version of this. It’s 9am and you’re already behind, because something nobody checked yesterday is now your problem.
The short answer. Before the first batch, the shift lead answers five questions: What are we making? What ingredients are we missing? Is the equipment in good working order? What’s most likely to go wrong? What’s the sequence? If more than one person is working, share the plan and ask what you forgot.
01. The five questions
Before the first batch starts, whoever is leading the shift should be able to answer five questions.
01. What are we making?
Confirm what’s on the schedule and how much of it.
02. What ingredients are we missing?
Review what you have on hand and how much. If something is short, call the supplier now and plan when someone picks it up.
03. Is the equipment in good working order?
That includes your instruments. A thermometer that’s due for calibration is something to catch before the batch starts. More on that in Every CCP log you’ve signed assumes the thermometer was right.
04. What’s most likely to go wrong?
Spoilage. Running short on one ingredient halfway through. Name it before it happens. Rotation is covered in Nobody decided to waste those peppers.
05. What’s the sequence?
Lay out the order things need to happen in so production runs the way it should.
02. Who runs it, and where it lives
Whoever leads the shift runs the list.
Build a template in a task app, in a notebook, in whatever you already have on hand and can stay consistent with. The tool matters less than using it every time.
Once more than one person is involved, the plan has to be communicated. And when you communicate it, finish with one question: what did I forget?
03. What the regulations ask for (briefly)
The FDA’s current good manufacturing practice sections cited here don’t spell out a pre-shift checklist. They do set two requirements that this one covers:
- Instruments that measure or control temperature, pH, acidity, or water activity must be accurate, precise, and adequately maintained (21 CFR 117.40(f)).
- Raw materials and other ingredients must be stored in a way that protects against contamination and minimizes deterioration (21 CFR 117.80(b)(1)).
Questions 02, 03, and 04 put both in front of you every production day.
04. Where FourFoxes fits
Your plan lives wherever you keep it. FourFoxes is your proof of work: the record of what you’ve already done, which you hold up against what you want and need to do next.
For question 01, that record is the starting point. FourFoxes tracks what you’ve produced, and that’s the number you compare against demand. If you make a fermented product, the comparison can’t wait until the morning of. Product that takes days or weeks has to be planned well ahead, so the sooner you know what needs to happen, the better.
For question 03, FourFoxes tells you when your thermometers were last calibrated. Calibration takes time, so check that date while you’re still planning the day and the week.
05. Start tomorrow
Write down the five questions. Put them where the shift lead will see them before the first batch. Ask them every production day, and finish with the sixth one.
06. Common questions
What should a small food producer check before starting production?
Five things: what you’re making and how much, what ingredients you’re missing, whether the equipment is in good working order, what’s most likely to go wrong, and the order everything needs to happen in.
Who should run the pre-production check?
Whoever is leading the shift. When more than one person is working, the plan has to be shared, and the last step is asking the team what you forgot.
Where should the checklist live?
Anywhere you’ll use consistently: a task app, a notebook, or whatever you already have on hand. Consistency matters more than the tool.
Does FDA require a pre-production checklist?
The current good manufacturing practice sections cited here don’t spell one out. They do require that instruments measuring temperature, pH, acidity, or water activity be accurate, precise, and adequately maintained (21 CFR 117.40(f)), and that ingredients be stored to protect against contamination and minimize deterioration (21 CFR 117.80(b)(1)).
Why plan production a week ahead?
Some ingredients need lead time. At Off The Deck Hot Sauce, key ingredients need at least 24 hours’ notice to the farmers who grow them, so we plan a week at a time. Fermented products that take days or weeks have to be planned even further ahead.
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