How do you handle production of orders from start to finish?

[john1]

Hey guys, The closer the date to me moving into my own real shop comes, the more i am trying to learn.

I am curious as to how you guys handle customer jobs from start to finish.

Like, once a customer comes in, do you do a estimate in quick books for example, then create a invoice and what from there?

Right now, things are very basic for me since i am not really busy so i just do a QB estimate, then convert it to a invoice then start on the job. There isn't really a system i use other than that but i am getting prepared if this new shop keeps me busy like i am wanting.

I know some may do a estimate, invoice, then a job ticket for "ready to print", printed and completed.

Thanks!

 

[visual800]

Here's prehistoric for you. I keep spiral notebooks. I write down all phone calls and contacts that I have made and IF one of those goes into detail about a sign I make a section for them including all measurements and details about the job. If it does turn into a paying job I then turn it into a invoice.

if you start an invoice everytime you think you have a job, you will be wasting alot of invoices

 

[Red Ball]

I also write everything in a spiral notebook. Sales people drop of little notepads that go right into the trash when they leave.
Electronic estimates when requested.
Invoice generated at order.

 

[wolf]

My answer is the same as the other 2. I would quote a job and write it up in a blank page in an artist drawing book A4 size including drawing of job and other requirements. If the customer comes back I take a deposit and start the job. I have a habit of taking a 50% deposit though. I have no interest in providing official quotes because this can backfire if the customer decides to take my quote elsewhere trying to get a better deal.

 

[Locals Find!]

I use a 5 subject notebook. I don't trust my quickbooks entirely.

I use 1 area for job notes like the others, 1 section for a job "to do list" 1 section for material ordering / suppliers etc... and 1 section for accounting and my last section is for my own business idea sketching for those random thoughts about your business that pop in your head that you should always write down for later review.

Then I use quickbooks / paypal for actual accounting but, I always have it on old fashioned paper if the computer dies. I used to use job tickets also but things have slowed down to the point I am only selling 5 different products so its been unnecessary.

 

[tsgstl]

I have order sheets
8.5"x11"
All contact info
Material
File name
Size
Price
A space for anything and everything (not that everything gets filled out)
And 1/3 of it is just a big blank square where I hand draw the order.

This goes in a clear plastic sleeve that when once is a order goes on a peg board in my office/print/design area.
Once it is cut/print it goes on another peg board in my shop.
Then when completed it goes in a tray on my wife's desk to be entered into quickbooks.

Cheap plastic job sleeves also hold any artwork supplied by customer and usually a detailed drawing printed by the actual file. You can get a pack of a dozen of them at office depot for pretty cheap. We also have several dry erase boards mounted in different areas with what order things need to be along with supplies we need to pick up and stuff. White tile board is basically dry erase and it is like $10 for a 4x8 sheet at the hardware store. We also get small 4x7ish pads of paper from our local sign supply companies. Very usefull for personal lists of jobs to do and we try only doing installs/deliveries 1 or 2 days a week so we write down where to go and check them off.
I also have a letterhead template in flexi that I import into any file I am sending drawings from. I scale it to size and send it behind any proof/quote. So if I print or email anything it looks professional.

 

[vid]

^^^

The most efficient small shop I worked at used a system similar to tsgstl's. At any one time, the staff could find the job jacket and know what was going on with the project. Anyone in the shop could handle things like customer calls on project status - Directing parts delivery - Estimating production time. All without wasting the time of finding that one person who was in the know. With a staff of 8, that system avoided a whole lot of mistakes and downtime.

For small projects, a hand written "Scope of Project Worksheet"/Work Order was drafted. (It sounds like it was a whole lot like tsgstl's.) Depending on the requirements, usually we just scrawled in the estimate. Pretty much the pricing was blurted out at the counter, on the phone, or was e-mailed. With approval, it was put into production immediately.

For large projects requiring multiple signature approvals, a Custom Excel Spreadsheet was filled out and e-mailed/delivered to the customer. It was easier to fill that out than go through the Quickbooks estimate. It also had all the contract lingo on it.

From there, all work proceeded through appropriate status bins on a daily basis. The bins were for things like Waiting for Approval, Estimate, Waiting for Material, Deadline Days, etc. It's final resting place was in the invoicing bin before delivery.

With the job sleeves, we were able to include, paint swatches, customer business cards, product samples, notes so that everyone could find anything they needed to know about the project in one place.

The only hiccup in the process is that the computer file names needed to be renamed after the invoice number generated by Quickbooks --- (that was the best method for that shop to manage the computer files of the different jobs for easy retrieval. At the end of the week some one would rename the files and place them in appropriate folders.)

The process was Work Order (Handwritten on custom printed pad) > Handwritten Estimate/Formal Excel Doc Estimate > Art generated (w/job specs on custom computer template) > Production/Subcontract > Billing (Quickbooks)



The benefit I would see generating an estimate on every order would be to track your close rate. Perhaps analyzing what didn't close to determine if that would be profitable at a lower price.

 

[HulkSmash]

every time someone comes in they go in our computer. Then a quote, the converted to invoice.

 

[headfirst]

Once a quote is approved it's converted to an invoice and the due date is set for the delivery day. We use Harvest, not QB, but it's essentially the same.

Once the invoice has been created we get a deposit from the customer (50%) or if they are an account customer we skip this step. Then the order goes to prepress for mockup/proof.

A proof and a mockup are then created and sent to the customer for approval.

Once the proof is approved we order any supplies that are needed for the order (using the invoice# as the vendor PO# so that I can find receipts by searching for the invoice # in my email)

Once any needed materials are in it is scheduled for production. If its a screen printing order films are output and screen are made at this point. Vinyl installs are scheduled and drop off times for vehicles are confirmed.

At this point the productions process is a bit different for each department.
For screen printing the order is printed, gets a QC check and packaging. The films go into the morgue and the final invoice is printed. We keep our screens for two weeks before reclaiming (unless they are regular orders).

For vinyl we are not installing the process is very similar to screen printing, albeit without the screens.

For installs we go through a vehicle check in process with the owner. Get release forms signed, take pictures and then wash the vehicle. After the install is done the "after" pics get taken and the final invoice is printed.

That's pretty much our process start to finish...

 

[jrsc]

We have padded sheets of 8.5 x 11 order sheets that we take down customer and order information on when they come in a call. Those then get passed along to whoever is working on the job at the moment. If there is other stuff to go with them like customer supplied drawings we just put it all in a folder to keep it together.

With all the talk on here about the scansnap scanners I ended up buying one a couple weeks ago and am experimenting with scanning these order sheets into evernote. So far it seems to be working pretty good. It is even doing a decent job at making my awful handwriting searchable.

Invoicing information is entered in the computer as a sales order in our accounting software and updated as needed then turned into an invoice when the job is finished.

As far as managing jobs in progress I can't stand white boards. They work well when you first write you list of stuff but things become a mess way to quick. There's no good way to move jobs around or reorder things without erasing everything and starting over. I use a free web based workflow board called trello. You can make a job card, drag it to different lists, reorder lists, add notes, assign people. It's like a big job board that you have complete control over moving things around.

 

[Mosh]

+ on the notepad, in fact my daughter was cleaning the shop the other day and I yelled at her cause she was tossing out some old notebooks from 5+ years ago...you never know what you might have to look up. Also I right legit order down on an order form and hang them up on a rack, and print all e-mails out that go with. And I save all those too...

 

[tsgstl]

As far as managing jobs in progress I can't stand white boards. They work well when you first write you list of stuff but things become a mess way to quick. There's no good way to move jobs around or reorder things without erasing everything and starting over. I use a free web based workflow board called trello. You can make a job card, drag it to different lists, reorder lists, add notes, assign people. It's like a big job board that you have complete control over moving things around.

That sounds pretty cool. I was wanting to ad a old pc out in my shop mainly for music. But I thought there could be other uses. Networking everything together would make this interesting. I really want something that will be accessed easily through my iPhone as well. I always have to update every list board email and pegboard seperately. Streamlining things sounds great. Although rewriting things over and over always helps me remember. I could tell you right now every job and quote I have going on because I write it down so many different ways.

 

[binki]

When we first started out we took the orders in the front, took them to the back, worked on them and then called the customer to pick them up. Now that we have more work it is more complicated to figure out what we have to do but here is a stab at it.

We use pre-printed (we print them) forms for quotes and invoices to write down the details. If we are just quoting then we use a quote form and give the customer a copy. If we take a firm order then we write it up by hand on a invoice/work order. The details are entered later on in QB, usually the same day but often it is a few days later.

From there if we need to order materials it goes to a material order box. Really it is a binder clip on a peg. We place our orders each morning if we have things to order.

It also goes on our production board which is a whiteboard with velcro. We have strips of dry-erase material with velcro also and we order the jobs by due date. We just arrange them every night before we leave for the next day.

We have a second board for special orders that require more attention.

AND we have a pegboard where we hang the invoice, job specs, etc. so we can find them.

We have a storage rack for material for customers if we have to stage it or purchase just for them and we have a finished jobs rack where the finished jobs go.

The entire process makes an oval from the front, down the south side and back up the north side to the front. The center of the shop has tables for assembly.

Now we are small (3 people with a sometimes 4th) so it works for us to do it this way and we are always adjusting our process as we discover new ways of doing things.

We balance books once a week but keep an eye on cash on hand and checking balances daily. This is really the most challenging part of the job. It seems like we spend more time keeping our books up to date than actually doing something to make the books fatter.

Good Luck. It was exacting when we moved from the garage to the shop and every time I walk in there I get that same energy.

 

[jrsc]

I really want something that will be accessed easily through my iPhone as well.

Well they have an iPhone app as well.

 

[CheapVehicleWrap]

I use a free web based workflow board called trello. You can make a job card, drag it to different lists, reorder lists, add notes, assign people. It's like a big job board that you have complete control over moving things around.

This Trello thing looks pretty cool! Kind of like what google wave was supposed to be.
Free is cheap too.

 

[tsgstl]

I have been playing with Trello all morning. For once I am excited to go in on a Monday. Looks very usefull for so many things. Not sure how the attachments work as far as storage goes. Would be ideal for pics taken of site instead of emailing to myself. And the mobil browser seems better than iPhone app

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aaDf1RqeLfo&feature=youtube_gdata_player

 

[signswi]

every time someone comes in they go in our computer. Then a quote, the converted to invoice.

This. Any job inquiry gets an estimate. Accepted estimates turn into work orders and completed jobs turn into invoices. All contacts are tracked in a CRM regardless if they place an order or not.

 

[john1]

Awesome responses everyone, For those doing things by paper before entering into the computer as a invoice...are you keeping those papers or do you dispose of them once it's generated as a invoice?

 

[SD&F]

I have a system that takes the quote and if ordered, turns it in to a job. We then enter everything into QB and put it in a job jacket. I have a stamp that I put on it when a deposit is taken and I put the date down. If anyone else handles it they must intial and put down date they finished it. I can then check the job jacket to see when it came in and if it is where it needs to be...time wise. If I can help, let me know. I am always trying to improve.

 

[Gino]

• People coming in for quotes and questions.... go onto a piece of paper at the counter.
• People calling in for quotes and questions.... go onto a piece of paper at my desk.
• E-mails get printed out at the printer.

All of these at the end of the day, go into QuickBooks as a quote.

If a job materializes, it gets turned into a work order or shop order with just about all the details I can think of pertinent to the job. Occasionally, the guys will have to ask questions and we edit the work order.

Once the job is completed it is turned into an invoice transmittal sheet, processed and then turned into an invoice.

If someone is picking up and paying cash on the barrel head, I give them a hand written receipt, but a paid invoice is mailed out at the end of the week from our office.