Every new order's Actual Ship Date starts at today plus your Default Lead Time, which you set at Settings > E-commerce > Order Settings. To push that automatic date out a couple of days, raise the number there. Production line lead times then tell each line when to start, and the Projection, Schedule Capacity and Work Schedule reports help you keep the dates you promise.
Applies to: catalog and itemized orders, for your team. The reports each follow the employee's report permissions.
In this article
- Set your default lead time
- Requested and actual ship dates
- Give each production line a lead time
- Check the Projection report while you verify
- Check Schedule Capacity
- Work in order with the Work Schedule
- Rush an order
- Things to know
Set your default lead time
- Go to Settings > E-commerce > Order Settings.
- Enter your standard lead time, in days, in Default Lead Time under Customer Order Settings.
- Click Save Changes.
New orders get an Actual Ship Date of the day they're created plus that many days. The lead time counts calendar days, weekends included, so for 10 working days enter 14. To change the date on one order, edit its Actual Ship Date in Order Info. See Requested and actual ship dates below.
Requested and actual ship dates
Every order carries two dates in Order Info. The Requested Date is the customer's ask: when your customer is placing an order they see Requested Date with a date picker in the sidebar and can request when they would like it shipped. It is the only date a customer can set, and it shows only when Allow Customers to Request Shipping Dates is set to Yes in Settings > E-commerce > Order Settings. If they leave it blank or pick a past date, Allmoxy sets it to today plus your Default Lead Time when the order is saved.
The Actual Date is your plan. It is set to today plus the Default Lead Time when the order is placed, so check it after placing and adjust it to the date you expect to ship. Marking the order Shipped does not change the Actual Date; it stamps a separate ship date on the invoice. The Shipping report lists orders by the Actual Date and calls it Ship Date, so an order appears on the day you set here: Plan deliveries and mark orders shipped with the Shipping report.
If the Actual Date is changed from the Requested Date, let the customer know. The Ship Date Modified trigger fires whenever a saved order's Actual Date changes, whether someone edited it or placing the order moved it, and you can limit it to certain statuses. Its email can include {requested_ship_date}, {previous_delivery_date} and {delivery_date}. It doesn't fire for a brand-new order or for changes made through the API. See Intro to triggers.
Give each production line a lead time
A production line's lead time doesn't change the order's ship date. It tells you when each line has to start for everything to finish on that date.
Set it as the Default Lead Time on the production line, at Settings > Operations > Labor Processes. See Set up production lines and labor processes. A line with no lead time uses your default lead time.
The order's Production Timeline shows one bar per production line, working back from the delivery date. For example, an order shipping 20 Nov with a cabinet line lead time of 7 days and a door line lead time of 3 days: cabinets start by 13 Nov, doors by 17 Nov.
Customers can't see the Production Timeline, and it isn't available while the order is a Bid, Ordered or Shipped.
Check the Projection report while you verify
The Projection report shows what you already have going out each day, so you can decide whether a new order's ship date can hold before you verify it.
- Go to Reports > Managerial > Projection. It lists, day by day, the pieces and value due out by projected delivery date. It starts filtered to Ordered orders; you can also filter by production line, delivery method, export class and tags.
- In another tab, open Orders > Orders filtered to Ordered to see the new orders waiting.
- As you verify each order, move its Actual Ship Date if that day is already full.
For most shops, Projection is the only scheduling report they need.
Check Schedule Capacity
Reports > Production > Schedule Capacity counts the pieces in verified orders by export class, for the dates you choose (ship date by default). It shows what's booked; it doesn't compare that against a capacity limit, so you judge whether a day is full.
Work in order with the Work Schedule
Reports > Production > Work Schedule lists verified orders for a production line by delivery date, each with a Start By Date: the delivery date minus the line's lead time. Click Start Job to move an order to In Progress. See Change an order's status.
Rush an order
The Work Schedule is sorted by delivery date, so the job that needs to go out first is at the top. To move a high-priority order ahead of others, change its Actual Ship Date to an earlier date. Let your customer know when you change the date they were given.
Things to know
- Can't see a report? Check the employee's report permissions.
- Requested vs. actual. The Requested Ship Date is what the customer asked for; the Actual Ship Date is what you schedule to.
- Order missing from the Work Schedule? See An order isn't showing up in my work schedule report.
Watch: Scheduling orders (older screens)
Watch: Verifying and scheduling with the Projection report (older screens)