How do I track an order through to delivery?

The question a tailoring shop hears most is “where has my order got to?” The statuses answer it without asking anyone in the workshop.

The five stages

• New — the order is recorded and work has not started.
• In tailoring — with the tailor.
• At ironing — out of sewing but not yet finished.
• Ready — waiting for the customer to collect.
• Delivered — the customer has actually taken it.

Steps

1. Open the invoice — Figure 1 — and at the bottom there is a change status box.
2. Pick the new status, write a note if needed, then press Update.
3. Every change is recorded in the status log with who changed it and when.
4. From Tailoring invoices — Figure 2 — filter by status to see what is at each stage.
5. Filter by delivery date to see what has run past its promised date.

Notes

• Statuses only pay off when updated as things happen; an invoice sitting at “new” for a week means nobody has looked at it.
• Make updating the status the job of whoever receives the garment, not the accountant.
• The ready list is today’s call list, and every day a piece sits there is space occupied in your shop.
• Do not move a status to delivered before collecting the balance; that is the quickest way to lose the money.