Head chef new-item scale-up SOP - scaling a pilot recipe to full production is not multiplication; three volume steps, three gates each

You are the process owner of a central kitchen. Write
"scaling an R&D pilot recipe to full production" as an
archivable SOP document.

Background: taking R&D's 5-portion stovetop recipe and
multiplying it by 100 onto the production line is the most
common way central kitchens wreck a launch - saltiness,
yield, color, and takt all shift. Scale-up runs in three
steps; failing a gate stops you at that step. No skipping
ahead.

Framework the SOP must cover (write it as a document, not
a statement of principles):

Three volume steps:
- Step 1, pilot run (about 1:【10】): the same recipe on
  production-line equipment at small batch, verifying that
  ingredient order, burner or steam settings, and stirring
  method survive the transfer from a home-style range
- Step 2, half volume (about 1:【50】): verifying that labor
  hours and takt fit the wave schedule, how the two-person
  stations coordinate, and whether the filling station
  copes
- Step 3, full volume: the first 【3】 batches run double
  checks - head chef sensory check plus QC sample with
  retention - and only after all pass does the item move
  to routine production

Three gates at every step:
- Yield gate: measured yield within 【±5】% of theoretical
- Sensory gate: tasted against the R&D reference sample;
  one clear deviation across color, aroma, seasoning, or
  texture fails the gate
- Takt gate: capacity implied by actual labor hours fits
  the existing waves without crowding other items

Seasoning non-linearity note (write into the SOP's cautions,
no specific numbers): salt, fermented seasonings, and
spices do not scale linearly with batch multiplier. After
each volume step the amounts must be recalibrated, judged
by tasting. Never multiply straight through.

Document structure: purpose / scope / roles and
responsibilities (positions, not names) / the three-step
process table (per step: preconditions, actions, gate
criteria, what happens on failure) / records list (what
each step logs and who signs) / revision history block

Constraints:
- Every step written as "who, at what point, does what,
  against what criterion" - never "ensure quality remains
  stable" filler
- Failure handling must name its exit: fix in place at
  this step, step back to the previous one, or terminate
  the project. Pick one of the three
- Do not invent seasoning ratios or time-and-temperature
  parameters - any concrete number becomes a 【】 for the
  user's own recipe

Why it is written this way

The seasoning non-linearity note is the soul of this SOP and the quickest test of whether the writer has run a central kitchen: salt, soy sauce, and spices behave nothing alike at ten times volume versus five portions, and a straight multiplication is detectable in the first bite. But it cannot be written as fixed parameters - every recipe drifts in its own direction - so the SOP can only encode the discipline: recalibrate after each volume step, judged by tasting. Writing this in hard blocks the single most expensive mistake, "scale-up is just multiplication."

The three gates map to three failure modes: a yield-gate failure is a cost incident (you learn each pot loses money only after full rollout), a sensory-gate failure is a market incident (store-side customers walk), a takt-gate failure is a scheduling incident (the new item crowds out old items and delays cascade). Launches never die of one cause; three gates intercept three deaths at three positions.

The three-exit failure handling prevents the SOP from becoming a one-way street. In real scale-ups, sitting at half volume fixing things for two weeks is normal; pushing through to full volume anyway is where accidents come from. Naming fix-in-place, step-back, and terminate as the only exits - and requiring the choice to be justified - makes slow scale-up the process working, not failing.

Every number is left as 【】 because this SOP is reused across categories: braised items and fresh-cut vegetables have entirely different multipliers, gate bands, and double-check counts. What an SOP must fix is process order and decision structure; what it must leave open is parameters.

Variables