NorthernSky Cloud Introduces Batchwork to Help Smaller Food Producers Trace Every Batch, From Supplier to Customer

As smaller bakeries and food producers look for better ways to manage production, inventory and costs, technology company NorthernSky Cloud has introduced Batchwork, a cloud-based business management platform built for growing food and beverage producers. Batchwork connects suppliers, ingredient lots, production batches, customers and shipments in one workspace, giving producers a complete record of what went into every batch and where it went.

Batchwork is now being introduced to selected users as NorthernSky Cloud validates the platform, gathers feedback and refines its features.

Business software sized for smaller producers

Large food manufacturers have long used enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems to coordinate their operations. Smaller independent producers face a different challenge: finding software that gives them useful business controls without unnecessary complexity or a lengthy implementation.

Many still work across spreadsheets, paper records and separate tools. That can work in the early days, but it becomes hard to maintain as production volumes, product ranges and customer orders grow. Batchwork brings that information into one connected system, delivered as cloud software, so producers have no servers or infrastructure to maintain.

“Technology should not become another complicated part of running a food business,” said Avishka, founder of NorthernSky Cloud. “We are developing Batchwork around a simple idea: smaller producers should be able to understand their production, inventory and business operations through one connected system without needing a large technology team.”

Why traceability matters

For bakeries, dairies, delis, sauce makers and other perishable food businesses, a supplier recall raises urgent questions. Which batches used the affected ingredient? Which customers received them? How much product is involved?

Answering those questions from spreadsheets and paper logs can take days. In Batchwork, the answer is a single search.

Batchwork follows the natural flow of a production operation: set up suppliers, log ingredient deliveries as individual lots, start production batches, record customers, and log shipments.

• Ingredient lot tracking. Each delivery is recorded as its own lot, with quantity, cost and expiry date.
• Production batches. Producers record the product, production date, expected yield and ingredients used. Stock is deducted automatically and each batch gets a unique code. Entering the actual yield later recalculates cost per unit.
• FEFO lot selection. Batchwork picks ingredient lots on a First-Expired, First-Out basis, splitting quantities across lots when needed, to help reduce waste. Users can still choose a specific lot.
• Orders and shipments. Each shipment records which batch went to which customer and at what price, with gross profit calculated automatically.
• Two-way traceability. A search on any batch code or ingredient lot code shows every connected supplier, production and shipment record.
• Void, don’t delete. Batches and shipments are voided rather than erased, so the full history stays available for recall review.
• Dashboard and reports. An at-a-glance view shows low-stock alerts and lots expiring within seven days. Reports on sales, costs, profit and production can be exported to CSV.
• Team access. Owners can invite staff by email. Each person gets their own login to the same shared workspace, with Admin and Staff roles.

A recall, start to finish

Consider a supplier that recalls a lot of cocoa powder. In Batchwork, the producer searches the lot code. The system immediately lists every batch that used that lot, every customer who received those batches, and the exact quantities and dates involved. Voided records stay visible, so nothing drops out of the trail.

The same search works in reverse. Starting from a finished batch, a producer can trace back to each ingredient lot and the supplier who delivered it.