How 3D print sellers keep track of orders

A spreadsheet or notes app holds up until one order has several parts on different printers with different due dates. What works is one record per order (customer, due date, status), a board of statuses, and a status on each printed part until the parcel ships. This is the setup we use at Fox & Train.

Step by step

1. Put every order in one list

Wherever an order came from (your website, a market stall, a direct message), it goes into the same list the moment the customer says yes.

In FoxTrack, New order on the Orders page opens the order form. Give the order a project title, a customer, a status and a due date, and if you like a priority and a sales channel. The order number is assigned when you first save, so you never type it.

2. Keep the customer with the order

Pick the customer in the order's Customer field, or create a new one from the same field. Next time they order, their details are already there, and opening the customer shows every order linked to them with its status, due date and total.

3. Use statuses that match your real work

A status only helps if it matches what is happening on the bench. Keep the list short: one status for each place an order waits, such as not started, printing, ready to pack and shipped. Add one later if orders keep piling up in one place.

In FoxTrack the statuses are the columns of the order board on the dashboard. Add column and Edit column shape the list, and Rules on a column can act when an order enters it, for example to set the shipping status or clear the due date. Drag an order from one column to the next as the work moves.

4. Put a due date on every order

A due date on every order lets you plan the week. Orders due in the coming week appear under Upcoming deadlines on the dashboard (Month view shows the whole month), so look there each morning. An order close to its due date raises an Order due soon notification.

5. Track each printed part, not only the order

One order can be a lampshade in one color, two brackets in another and a base that prints overnight. "Printing" on the whole order does not tell you which part is on which printer, so track each line on its own.

In FoxTrack every line on an order has its own item status, from a list you set under Settings → Item Statuses. The Fulfillment page in the sidebar is the queue for the print room: every line still in production, grouped By Order or By Printer. Click a status to move a line on, and pick the printer it runs on. When a line reaches a status that is linked to a board column, the order moves on the board by itself. To follow each piece of a line with a quantity of three, Split turns it into three lines, each with its own status and printer.

6. Let orders move your stock

If an order uses filament or finished stock, saving it should update that stock for you. In FoxTrack, saving an order takes filament grams off the spools for products you make to order, and takes finished items off the shelf for products you sell from stock. Editing the order reverses the old movement first, so nothing is counted twice. We cover the filament side in how to track filament stock without a spreadsheet.

7. Pack, ship and invoice from the same record

Each order has its own fulfillment page. Print packing slip downloads a PDF of the parcel contents. Once every line is finished, Mark packed sets the order's shipping status to Packed. The carrier and tracking number go in the Shipment block on the order form, and Create invoice makes an invoice with the order's lines and totals copied across.

Moving over from a spreadsheet

Import CSV on the Orders page loads orders from a CSV file, so you can bring your open orders across instead of typing them again.