order management??

[alpha1]

I know there have been plenty of threads about shop management software.
Something simple, not too elaborate. Its only my husband and myself running the business. Looking for suggestions on a system to help organize orders that come in (from email, Facebook page, phone calls).
I have looked into ShopVox and like some of the features but not sure if we would utilize everything.

 

[James Burke]

Being a one-man show, I use duplicate NCR work order sheets (made in MS Excel) and a custom-made "kanban-style" job board. I know Trello and a few others make an digital version of this, but I especially like the old-school visual and tactile way of doing things.

Each kanban card resides in hard plastic sleeve that has a magnet affixed to it. At the bottom of each card is job status record that gets punched with a paper punch as various tasks are completed. We print and pad (glue) our NCR work orders and kanban cards in house...very simple to do. (The order sheets and the cards are sequentially numbered, by the way)

I used to use a dry erase board, but I got tired of constantly erasing and re-writing as priorities would change.



JB

 

[Starter]

Google calendar can be useful. It is live and you can share the calendar with however many people you like. Each event can be color coded for its stage of completion. i.e...red can be in production , green as completed, blue as shipped etc.

 

[ExecuPrintGS]

I use an excel work sheet. I have my jobs to proof, date in, date needed, date proofed.
Once its out of proofing i have an "in production" and "ready for install" with all the details and important dates.

I also have a metal file holder on my desk that follows the same order and steps of my excel log with the paper work orders in that, they move every step and i adjust in excel.
It is redundant, but its the only way ive been able to keep things organized and reduce mistakes.

We are also a small shop, i am the only sign/ vehicle person, so this works for me. If we had multiple people i we would use google docs. so everyone could edit (at one point we had that for the whole shop, signs, apparel and printing but it was a headache and i was the only one who ever updated anything on it so i just went back to my own excel doc. )

 

[rydods]

Wunderlist.com and Google Calendar. Both can be downloaded on your phone as well. Wunderlist is our entire job list with subtasks for each "to do" or "job", that you can check off as you go. You can also assign to other people and upload files. You can add comments to each list as well. Oh, and it's free. Sounds like I work for them but I don't. I stumbled onto it.
My wife and I also use it for our shopping list! I Skype her (another good free work tool) at her job and let her know I'm going to the store so add what we need to the list.
We're a small company, 5 employees but we're not always in the same room. These cover everything for us and we only had to pay for Estimate and google plus...

Wunderlist - order management, to do list and scheduling/due dates
Google Calendar - Scheduling (I like to use this to color coat different meetings and tasks that we setup in wunderlist so they stand out)
Estimate Sign Software - Estimating (sends directly to quickbooks for billing or you can use for billing itself)
Skype - Communication anywhere anytime free
Google drive - file storage and backup (extra backup and security)

 

[T_K]

I've started using Redbooth, since all I'm working with is order management. Billing and all that is separate. For the volume and type of work we're doing now, it's been really useful.

 

[mikeinpdx]

Smartsheet

Check out Smartsheet. It combines Excel-like functions, reporting, project management ( including Kanban cards), and web forms all in one package. Check out their website here https://www.smartsheet.com?u=ZA10462347&s=5&c=500

Not dedicated to sign shops, but it seems like it does most everything I could want in a general purpose solution.