Order management software for a made-to-order production workshop

In a workshop that makes to order (furniture, metal fabrication, joinery, print, upholstery), no two jobs are quite alike. Anyone searching for “order management software” usually has the same headache: the information about each job is scattered across a spreadsheet, a group chat, a few printed sheets and the workshop manager’s memory.

The application described here keeps the order’s whole journey in one place and shows it to each person on their own screen. It is not accounting software, nor is it a large production planning system. It gives a quick answer to the question “what stage is such-and-such an order at, and what is holding it up?”

What gets lost between the spreadsheet and the group chat

The spreadsheet works as long as one person fills it in. Once three people open it, you get different versions, rows coloured according to rules only the author knows, and overwritten cells. The group chat is slipperier still: the change the customer asked for on Thursday evening sits between a photo of a cut panel and a question about annual leave.

Every workshop knows the consequences: work is done from the old drawing, material is ordered late because nobody shouted that it was missing, and the customer asking about the delivery date gets an approximate answer.

Order management software: the route from enquiry to delivery

We model the application on the real route a job takes through your workshop, using the names you already use. Every step has someone responsible and leaves a trace.

The status of the order is visible to everyone with an account, with different permissions: the workshop does not see prices, sales cannot change the stages.

• The enquiry: the customer’s details, what they want, dimensions, files and photos.
• The quote: calculated from materials, labour and mark-up, generated as a PDF, with each version kept whenever it changes.
• The firm order: the accepted quote becomes an order, with the deposit recorded and the promised date.
• The job sheet: drawings, dimensions, materials and notes, printed with a QR code or opened on a tablet.
• The production stages: for example cutting, machining, assembly, finishing, inspection, packing, each with a start, an end and a person.
• Delivery: transport or installation scheduled, photos at handover, confirmation of receipt.

The tablet screen on the workshop floor

On the shop floor nobody is sitting with a mouse in their hand. The workshop screen has few elements, large and easy to tap: the list of today’s jobs at that workstation, the job sheet with the drawing enlarged, and buttons such as “started”, “finished”, “I have a problem”.

Scanning the QR code on the sheet opens the order directly. The problem button asks for a reason (material missing, drawing unclear, machine down) and alerts the office, so the hold-up is known about when it happens, not at Monday’s meeting.

As a web application, it opens in the tablet’s browser, with nothing to install. It does, however, depend on the wireless network on the shop floor, which is worth checking beforehand.

Materials, internal deadlines and the order history

Each order has its own list of materials, taken from the quote. The application shows what needs ordering, what has arrived and which jobs are waiting for a material. Stock accounting stays in your stock management software; duplicating it gives you two different truths.

The date promised to the customer is broken down into internal deadlines, stage by stage. If cutting runs late, you see at once which orders are pushed back. A week-by-week view shows how loaded each workstation is, so that you do not promise a date the workshop cannot keep.

The history records who changed a dimension, which version of the drawing is current and what was agreed with the customer. When a complaint comes in, the answer is in the order record, not on somebody’s phone.

Bringing it into the workshop without stopping production

The usual trap is excess: too many statuses and mandatory fields, which after a while nobody fills in any more. We prefer few statuses, always filled in.

On the technical side, we use Laravel (a PHP framework) and a relational database, in which orders, stages and materials are linked to one another and can be queried for reports.

• Mapping the workflow: we follow a few real orders from start to finish, with the workshop manager.
• Screens to try out: the office one and the tablet one, put in the hands of the people who will use them.
• The first slice: enquiry, quote, order and statuses, used on new orders.
• The second slice: materials, deadlines by stage, workstation load.
• Bedding in: we correct names, permissions and reports after real use.

This is a typical project description: it shows how we usually approach this kind of work and does not present a project carried out for a particular client. Every real project starts from your company’s situation, and the stages, timescales and price are agreed after the initial discussion.