How to manage co-packer production runs on Starch

Managing a co-packer production run means coordinating ingredients, packaging, specs, and timing across an organization you don't control — and then reconciling what actually came out against what you expected. You're sending purchase orders, confirming production dates, tracking yield, and hoping the invoice you get at the end matches what you shipped in and what got palletized out. When something slips — a spec change that didn't make it to the line, a yield that ran 8% short, an invoice for a run quantity that doesn't match your records — you find out late, usually when a customer order is already at risk. What this looks like in practice varies: a solo founder running two SKUs with one co-man has different pressure points than a brand with five facilities and seasonal runs across multiple formats. But the core problem is the same — too much visibility depends on someone at the co-packer responding to your email. On Starch, you get a production calendar that's always current, purchase orders that generate from your demand forecast, and yield variance flagged before it becomes a billing dispute. The apps built for this workflow — Co-Packer Manager, Inventory Planner, and Lot Tracker — are currently in development; you can request beta access today. Describe what you need and Starch builds it around your co-packer relationships, your SKUs, and how you actually track a run.