Make What the Order Needs, Ship What Is Ready

One step from the order to production

On the sales list and on the order itself, the action button splits in two: Processing on one side, Delivery Order on the other. Processing opens a stock check for the order. For every line it shows how much is ordered, how much is in stock, how much is already being made and how much is still missing, as a simple bar of blocks with one sentence underneath that says the same thing in words.

• +Make only what's missing, the default, or Make the full order.
• +Lines with no stock make in full, part-stocked lines make only the shortfall, and stocked lines are skipped unless you choose Make anyway.
• +Anything planned beyond the order is marked as extra for stock.
• +Only confirmed orders can be sent, and a double click or a stale screen never makes a duplicate batch.

A processing draft that already knows the order

Create makes a processing draft in the order's branch, with every item linked to its order line. Each item carries the product and its variant, the quantity converted to the base unit (30 cartons become 360 pieces), the line's description, any custom columns with the same name, and the warehouse. The product's recipe loads, so the draft opens ready for its first stage, a karigar and the finished goods.

• +Linked line by line, so progress is tracked per order line, not per order.
• +Recipes load on their own; when one cannot, the draft says why.
• +From there the batch runs like any other processing: stages, vendors, notes and gate passes.

The order shows how production is going

Each order on the sales list carries a short line such as Made 12/60 · Ready 53 of 101: what production has finished, and what can ship now out of what the order still owes. Click it and the production view opens: Delivered, Ready, In processing and To make as four figures and one bar, the batches behind it, and every line grouped by what it needs next. A line shows its own bar, what is made, short or over-planned, the stage it is at, the karigar, and how much is sitting at a vendor.

• +Lines that need someone open first; finished ones fold away.
• +Goods made for a line are held for that line, and earlier orders get free stock before later ones.
• +Goods a batch is still holding in production show as made and on hold, never as ready and never as to make again.
• +A profit strip sets the sale value against the production cost, marked Estimated until the batch is done, for the people allowed to see cost.

Goods ready, and a delivery order that ships only what is ready

Each time finished goods for the order reach the shelf, the branch gets a Goods ready bell. A delivery order made from the order then fills in only what is ready to go, so nobody loads a truck with goods that do not exist yet. If nothing is ready, it asks before making a delivery order for the whole remaining quantity anyway.

• +The bell goes to the branch's users who can see sales orders.
• +It rings when goods reach the shelf, not when a receipt only puts them on hold.
• +Processing batches appear under their order in the Document flow.

Order changes that never confuse the floor

Orders change. If a customer cuts an order below what a draft batch plans, saving the order asks whether to reduce the draft to what the order now needs or keep the extra for stock. A batch that is already running is never changed behind the floor's back. A line removed from the order, or switched to another product, leaves its batch item unlinked, and what it makes goes to ordinary stock.

• +An order with open processing cannot go back to draft, so it cannot be deleted by accident.
• +Cancelling or closing such an order is allowed with a warning; the batch carries on and makes for stock.
• +While editing, a linked line shows that it is in processing, or how much extra is planned.
• +A linked batch item cannot switch to another product, though its quantity can change.

Vendor prints that never name the customer

Karigars and outside vendors see the order number on their notes, never the customer's name, so your customer list stays yours. The order number is a field in the document designer, Sales order #, placed on the transfer note from the start and dragged onto any other note you want it on.