Skip to main content
The Cloud Kitchen module gives you a single central inventory — a commissary — that sits above your individual branches. You stock it, produce from it, and dispatch goods to whichever branches need them. Each dispatch automatically deducts from the central stock and credits the receiving branch’s own inventory in one paired operation. This is separate from the per-branch Inventory each branch maintains on its own. Use Cloud Kitchen when you have a central production facility, a shared warehouse, or a prep kitchen that serves multiple locations.
You need the Manage Cloud Kitchen permission to access most of this module. Some actions — procurement, stock counts, waste reasons, reports, and alerts — have additional permission requirements noted on each page.

​
How it works

The module is built around a few core concepts that connect together:
  • Items are the products your Cloud Kitchen holds. Each item has a name, a unit of measure, and an optional transfer price used when goods move to branches.
  • Stock is the running on-hand quantity for each item, updated automatically every time a movement is recorded.
  • Movements are the individual transactions that change stock: receiving goods in, removing stock out, recording waste, running a production batch, or dispatching to a branch.
  • Recipes define how raw inputs are combined to produce an output item. When you run a production batch, the system deducts the input quantities and adds the yield to your stock.
  • Procurement covers the full purchasing workflow: requisitions (internal shopping lists), purchase orders sent to suppliers, and receiving deliveries against those orders.
  • Dispatch is how stock leaves the Cloud Kitchen and arrives at a branch. Before you can dispatch an item, you must create a branch item mapping that connects the Cloud Kitchen item to the matching item in that branch’s inventory, including a unit-of-measure multiplier for any conversion needed.
  • Reports and alerts give you visibility into dispatch activity, branch consumption, and price variances, and let you set up automatic email notifications for overdue purchase orders and expiring stock.

​
Setup order

When you first enable the Cloud Kitchen, follow this sequence:
1

Name your Cloud Kitchen and link branches

Give the Cloud Kitchen a name and select which branches will receive supplies from it. Only linked branches appear as dispatch destinations.
2

Define your items

Create the items that will be held in this central inventory, including their units and transfer prices.
3

Create branch item mappings

For each item you plan to dispatch, map it to the corresponding item in each branch’s inventory. This step is required before any dispatch can be processed.
4

Receive your opening stock

Record stock-in movements to load your starting quantities. Optionally set up waste reasons and alert thresholds.
5

Define recipes (if applicable)

If your Cloud Kitchen produces finished goods from raw ingredients, create your recipes and run production batches to build up prepared stock.

​
Pages in this section

Cloud Kitchen Setup, Items, and Stock

Initialize the Cloud Kitchen, define items, view on-hand stock, record movements, and perform physical stock counts.

Cloud Kitchen Procurement and Production

Manage requisitions, purchase orders, supplier catalogs, recipes, and production batches.

Dispatching to Branches, Mappings, Reports, and Alerts

Set up branch item mappings, dispatch stock to branches, view analytics reports, and configure automated alert emails.