Customer orders

A print job starts with a customer commitment. The Production Planner records the customer, required date and order lines so the shop can decide what to make. Each line carries an item, quantity and unit price. The order keeps its own state as production work is planned and completed against it.

Use Draft while the request is being checked. The planner approves the order when its parts and dates are agreed, then records Approved. Keep that decision separate from the later request to release a work order. An accepted customer request still needs a suitable printer and a workable production window before operators can begin.

• Customer identity. Keep customers and suppliers under their correct party type. An active customer record provides the name and email used to identify the request. Check for an existing customer before creating another entry for a repeat order.
• Requested parts. Link each order line to the actual printed item. Confirm the quantity and unit price at line level. Different parts on the same customer order remain distinguishable when the planner creates the production work.
• Production handoff. Link a work order to its customer order and product. Where the work serves a particular line, retain that line link too. This gives the next planner a clear route from the printer assignment back to the requested part.

Decide who can approve an order and what information they check before moving it out of Draft. Start with the Production Planner as the owner of the customer handoff. Agree how a changed required date is communicated to the person maintaining the production schedule.

Choose item codes that distinguish parts the shop must plan separately. Agree the unit used for each item, especially where purchased material and finished parts use different units. Decide when the customer order becomes Released and what evidence the planner needs before marking it Fulfilled. Those decisions should be rehearsed alongside the production work they summarize.

A customer requests 24 mounting clips and 8 protective covers for Friday. The planner records separate order lines and checks the required date with the customer. After approval, the planner creates work for the clips and links it to the clip line; the cover work remains distinguishable under the same order.

If the clips pass review while the covers still need sanding, inspect both work orders before changing the overall order state. The planner can see which request each job serves and can explain the remaining work without treating the first finished build as the whole customer commitment. Rehearse a cancelled request as well, and agree who checks any production already in progress.

• Order approval inbox — Customer requests still in Draft, ready for the planner to check their lines and required dates.
• Active customer orders — Approved and Released commitments that still need production follow-through.

Follow order approval and production release, then compare the planned printer work in Production planning.