The NPD Lifecycle Manager is a purpose-built platform that manages the complete lifecycle of new food products — from initial concept and recipe formulation through costing, multi-stage approval workflows, trial production, and full-scale manufacturing release. It provides a single source of truth for every product your organisation develops, ensuring governance, traceability, and cross-functional collaboration at every stage.

Food manufacturing companies face unique challenges when developing new products. Every new product must be carefully formulated with precise ingredient quantities, costed accurately across multiple cost centres, tested through trial batches, approved by cross-functional teams, and scaled up for production — all while maintaining full regulatory compliance for allergen management, operational constraints, and quality control.

The NPD Lifecycle Manager addresses these challenges by providing:

The system follows a structured, phase-gated approach to new product development. Each product moves through defined lifecycle phases with formal approval gates at every transition.

Standard Workflow

1. 1 Create Project — Define the product name, type (recipe or primal), department, category, target weight, shelf life, and batch size. Select a workflow template or let the department default apply.
2. 2 Build Formulation — Add ingredients with quantities and percentages. The system auto-calculates line costs and the total ingredient cost in real time. Allergen and constraint warnings appear automatically.
3. 3 Configure Costing — Set labour, overhead, packaging, and transport costs (each in Full Value, Per kg, or Per Unit mode). Apply manufacturing loss percentage, rebates, and promotional values. Set primary and secondary margins.
4. 4 Submit for Approval — Change status to “In Review” to enter the workflow. Each approval stage (e.g. R&D Review, QA Sign-off, Finance, Ops) must be completed in sequence. Role-based permissions ensure the right people approve each stage.
5. 5 Phase Advancement — Once all stages are approved, the project advances to the next phase (Trial, Scale-Up, Production). The workflow resets and batch sizes update automatically. All stages must be re-approved at each phase.
6. 6 Record Trial Results & Costs — During Trial and Scale-Up phases, record batch input/output data with automatic yield and waste calculations. Add itemised additional costs per trial run (materials, labour, testing, equipment) to track the true lifecycle cost of each batch. Track quality evaluations with sensory scores. Upload product images and lab results. Define step-by-step cooking instructions for food safety compliance.
7. 7 Production Release — After completing all phases and approvals, the product is released for full-scale manufacturing with complete cost, formulation, and compliance documentation.

The following rules are enforced by the system to maintain data integrity, governance, and compliance:

Replacing Spreadsheets: Traditional NPD processes rely on shared spreadsheets, email chains, and manual tracking. This leads to version conflicts, missed approvals, inaccurate costs, and zero traceability. The NPD Lifecycle Manager replaces this with a structured, auditable system where nothing falls through the cracks.

Faster Time-to-Market: Streamlined approval workflows with automatic stage advancement eliminate bottlenecks. Stakeholders are notified automatically when their input is needed. Phase transitions happen smoothly with pre-planned batch sizes.

Risk Reduction: Allergen tracking, operational constraints, and formal quality evaluations reduce the risk of non-compliant products reaching production. Every product is validated before release.

Scalable & Configurable: The system supports both recipe-based products (sausages, burgers, ready meals) and primal-cut products (steaks, fillets). Workflows, departments, ingredient categories, and cost modes are all configurable to match your organisation’s specific processes.