In discrete manufacturing, a BOM is a parts list with fixed quantities. Food manufacturing doesn’t work that way. When you scale a bread recipe from 10kg to 500kg of dough, hydration percentages change. Yeast quantities don’t scale linearly. Mixing times extend.

There’s also the multi-stage problem. A BOM is typically single-level. A food recipe might have three or four stages. A chocolate truffle manufacturer makes ganache (stage 1), forms centres (stage 2), tempers and enrobes (stage 3), and packages (stage 4).

This is why generic ERP systems built around BOM structures frustrate food manufacturers. The system expects fixed quantities and single-level assemblies. Food manufacturers need baker’s percentages, yield adjustments, multi-stage processing, and ingredients that change behaviour depending on temperature and humidity.