Overview

Your Kitchen Production Formulas have done the math. Now you need to get that information into the hands of your kitchen team.

CaterZen has several production reports because your team may need to look at the same information in different ways. You may need a production sheet for one event, combined totals for an entire day, or a live report organized by station.

There is not one report that is right for every situation. The best place to start is with one simple question: What does your team need to accomplish right now?

Quick Guide: Which Report Should I Use?

You do not have to choose only one report for your entire operation. Many caterers use an individual report for each event and a totals report for advance prep or purchasing.

Follow the Classic BBQ Buffet Through the Reports

In our Classic BBQ Buffet example, the Customer may choose Pulled Pork and Chicken, Mac & Cheese and Baked Beans, Bread, and Garden Salad.

The formulas convert what the Customer ordered into quantities your kitchen understands, such as:

• Pulled Pork in pounds
• Chicken in pounds
• Mac & Cheese in quarts
• Baked Beans in quarts
• Bread by the each or package
• Garden Salad by the full-size pan

The formulas do not change when you switch reports. The report only changes how your team views and uses the results.

Reports for One Order

Food Prep Report

View the Food Prep Report guide

The Food Prep Report shows the food required for one event and groups the Prep Items by Food Prep Category. It aggregates like Prep Items into one total for the order. Your Classic BBQ Buffet could be organized under categories such as Meats/Proteins, Hot Sides, Salads, and Breads.

Good for:

• Preparing or reviewing one event at a time
• Kitchens that organize work by type of food
• Seeing the event details along with the calculated food quantities
• Creating a clear food-prep sheet to keep with the order
• Printing Food Prep Reports for several individual orders at once through Print All Reports

Keep in mind:

• It is an individual-order report, so it is not the best choice when you need one combined total for several orders.
• Because it aggregates like Prep Items into totals, it may not work as well when an order contains a large number of individual boxed lunches or platters with different selections. The totals tell the kitchen how much to prepare, but may not make it easy to see what belongs with each individual meal or platter.
• The organization depends on the Food Prep Categories assigned to your Prep Items. Consistent categories make the report much easier to use.

Order Production Report

View the Order Production Report guide

The Order Production Report also shows the food required for one event, but it organizes the Prep Items by Prep Station. Pulled Pork may be assigned to the Pit Station, Mac & Cheese to the Hot Line, and Garden Salad to the Salad Station.

Good for:

• Preparing or reviewing one event at a time
• Kitchens where different stations are responsible for different parts of the order
• Showing each station exactly what it needs to produce
• Printing production reports for several individual orders through Print All Reports

Keep in mind:

• It is still an individual-order report, not one combined production total for the day.
• The report is only as organized as the Prep Stations assigned to your Prep Items.

Food Prep Report or Order Production Report?

Both reports display production quantities for a single event. The main difference is how the work is organized:

• Choose the Food Prep Report when your team wants Prep Items grouped by Food Prep Category.
• Choose the Order Production Report when your team wants Prep Items organized by the station responsible for making them.

Reports for Several Orders or a Date Range

Kitchen Production Report (Legacy)

View the Kitchen Production Report guide

The Legacy report gives you the most detail. It can show the Menu Items, packages, choices, modifiers, and Formula results that created each production quantity.

Good for:

• Reviewing production across several orders or a date range
• Tracing a Prep Item quantity back to the Menu Item, package choice, or modifier that created it
• Answering questions when a production total does not look right
• Seeing individual-order detail or hiding the orders to focus on totals

For example, it can help you see whether Pulled Pork came from sandwiches sold by the each, a choice inside the Classic BBQ Buffet, or pounds sold à la carte.

Keep in mind:

• The additional detail can make the report longer and busier than the V2 report.
• If the kitchen only needs a clean list of total Prep Items, V2 may be easier to read.

V2 Kitchen Production Report

View the V2 Kitchen Production Report guide

V2 gives your team a cleaner list focused on the Prep Items it needs to produce. It can be run for a single day or a date range, with the option to view combined totals.

Good for:

• Seeing a clean production list without all of the Menu Item detail
• Combining production quantities across multiple orders
• Planning daily or multi-day prep
• Seeing the total amount of each Prep Item the kitchen needs

For example, Customers may have ordered Pulled Pork through sandwiches, buffet packages, and à la carte pounds. V2 can combine those formulas and show the kitchen the total pounds of Pulled Pork to prepare.

Keep in mind:

• V2 does not show the same Menu Item, choice, and modifier detail as the Legacy report.
• Open Menu Items and Menu Items without Kitchen Production Formulas do not appear on V2.
• If a quantity is missing, you may need the Legacy report to help trace the setup.

Legacy or V2?

• Choose Legacy when you need to see where the numbers came from.
• Choose V2 when the kitchen mainly needs to know what to make and how much.

Many teams use V2 for daily production and Legacy when reviewing the setup or troubleshooting a number.

Tablet Production Report

View the Tablet Production Report guide

The Tablet Production Report gives your kitchen a live, one-day production view. Instead of working from a printed report, the team can update items as they move through each phase of production.

Good for:

• Kitchens that want to manage production digitally
• Tracking what has not been started, what is in progress, and what is complete
• Filtering work by category or station
• Multiple stations working from the same current production information
• Seeing alerts when an order is added or changed

Keep in mind:

• It is designed for a one-day production workflow, not multi-day purchasing or advance planning.
• Your team needs access to tablets or other devices and a clear process for updating production.
• Consistent Food Prep Categories and Prep Stations make the filters much more useful.

Pull Sheets

View the individual Pull Sheet guide

View the Pull Sheet Report Totals guide

Kitchen Production Reports tell your team what food to prepare. Pull Sheets tell your team what non-food items to pull, pack, or stage.

For the Classic BBQ Buffet, Pull Sheet items might include serving spoons, chafing dishes, fuel, plates, napkins, flatware, salad tongs, and disposable pans or lids.

Good for:

• Packing supplies and equipment for one event
• Confirming non-food items before an order leaves the building
• Combining non-food quantities across several orders with Pull Sheet Report Totals
• Planning high-volume packing or ordering supplies in advance

Keep in mind:

• Pull Sheets are for equipment, supplies, and other non-food items. They do not replace a food production report.
• Pull Sheet items and formulas must be set up for the quantities to appear automatically.

Custom Production Reports

View the Custom Production Reports guide

A Custom Production Report gives a specific station or team a focused list of selected Prep Items.

Good for:

• A station that only needs to see its own production
• Repeating specialty lists, such as bakery, sauces, or cold prep
• Keeping a small team from sorting through a much larger production report

Keep in mind:

• It requires additional setup and maintenance as your menu or Prep Items change.
• It is focused by design, so it should not be treated as the kitchen’s complete production list.

Supplier Ordering Report

View the Supplier Ordering Report guide

The Supplier Ordering Report is for purchasing rather than kitchen production. Supplier Formulas convert sales into the ingredient or product quantities you need to order.

Good for:

• Forecasting purchasing needs from upcoming orders
• Organizing products by supplier
• Looking farther ahead than the kitchen’s final production schedule
• Turning sales into order quantities for ingredients or products

Keep in mind:

• Supplier Formulas require separate setup from Kitchen Production Formulas.
• The report is meant to help with ordering. It does not replace the Prep Item quantities your kitchen needs for production.

One Practical Way to Use the Reports Together

You may find that your kitchen uses several reports at different points in the process:

• Use the Supplier Ordering Report or a multi-day production report for purchasing and advance planning.
• Use V2 for a clean total of everything the kitchen needs to produce that day.
• Use Legacy when you need to trace or double-check a production quantity.
• Give each event its Food Prep Report or Order Production Report for final preparation and packing.
• Pair the food report with the event’s Pull Sheet for equipment and non-food items.
• Use the Tablet Production Report if your team manages the day’s work digitally.

The best combination is the one your kitchen will use consistently. Start with the report that answers the team’s immediate question, then add another report only when it gives them information they truly need.

Related Kitchen Production Articles

• Kitchen Production in CaterZen: How Prep Items, Formulas, and Reports Work Together
• Prep Items: Guide to Creating and Editing
• Simple Menu Item Kitchen Production Formula
• Building Kitchen Production Formulas for Menu Items with Choices and Modifiers

Need Help Building Your Kitchen Production Workflow?

If you would like help deciding which reports your kitchen should use or reviewing your Kitchen Production setup, book a Kitchen Production session with Jill Hammett.