Where central kitchens leak
A central kitchen should make chains more efficient: bulk buying, consistent gravies and bases, less skilled labour at outlets. In practice, three leaks eat into that: outlets over-indent to be safe, production doesn't match demand, and quantities go missing between dispatch and receipt.
Indents with rules
- Cut-off times. Indents after the cut-off need approval, so the kitchen plans once rather than all day.
- Standard quantities. Each outlet has a default indent by weekday. Managers adjust rather than start from zero.
- Stock-aware suggestions. The indent accounts for what the outlet already has, which stops "just in case" orders.
Production from demand
Consolidate all outlet indents into one production plan by item. Record every batch: ingredients issued, yield and time. Batch yield against standard shows where the kitchen itself loses material, and batch cost becomes the transfer price to outlets, so outlet food cost includes what semi-finished goods really cost.
Dispatch and receipt
Dispatch by route, with quantities per outlet. The outlet confirms what arrived and records shortfalls or damage on receipt. Discrepancies are then visible per route and driver, rather than disappearing into each outlet's variance.
Putting it together
DeepRestaurantAI runs indents with cut-offs and suggested quantities, turns them into a production plan, costs each batch, and sends transfers that outlets confirm on the manager app.