Order Flow Process

From customer enquiry to dispatch β€” the journey every order takes. Glossary, tips and troubleshooting at the bottom.
πŸ‘₯1

Client & enquiry

The client organisation is created or looked up β€” addresses, contacts, payment terms and currency all live here and auto-fill every document later on.

Client Organisations Opportunities Quotes
πŸ“2

Create the order

Start a draft, add the line items, then allocate a job ref β€” the order gets its permanent number like G26-029 (G = Glasgow, P = Plano).

New Order All Orders
πŸ“„3

Generate the job sheets

One click each from the order page β€” every sheet pre-fills from the order lines and gets a preview before the PDF.

πŸ›‘Ballistic Job Sheetcutting room 🧡Carrier Job Sheetsewing β›‘Helmet Job Sheetassembly πŸ›’Order Sheetwhat to buy βœ‚οΈTrim Sheetstrims per size 🧾CIPLinvoice + packing
Sheets only fill themselves in when the items are set up properly β€” the Data Audit page shows anything missing.
πŸ”’4

Serials & labels

Serial numbers generate straight from the order lines β€” like G26-029.2616-CAR-001 β€” then the labels grid tracks what's been printed.

Serial Numbers Labels
🚚5

Buy the materials

The Order Sheet says exactly what each supplier needs to send. Deliveries get booked in at the warehouse or cutting station when they arrive.

Purchase Control Sheet Suppliers Fabric Stock Trims Stock
🏭6

Production

Cutting, sewing and assembly work from the job-sheet PDFs. Material used on the floor is logged as it's cut, so stock counts stay live.

Material Cutting Station Warehouse Station
✈️7

Ship it

The CIPL (commercial invoice + packing list) auto-fills from the order and client, the shipment gets tracked door-to-door, and the order moves to shipped.

CIPL Generator Shipments Shipped Orders

Reference & help

πŸ“– Glossary β€” what the words mean

System terms

Catalogue
The master list of every product, broken down Category β†’ Item β†’ Variant.
SKU / Variant
One specific size + colour combination of an item. "Bellator Β· Large Β· Black" is one SKU; "Β· Tan" is another.
Job ref
The order reference, e.g. G26-019 or P26-014. G = Glasgow despatch, P = Plano (USA). Allocated when a draft is finalised, never recycled.
PIN
Your 4-6 digit sign-in code. Every record you touch is tagged with your name β€” don't share PINs.
Serial pool
A named group of serial numbers β€” CAR, HEL, SAP, or custom 3-letter pools like DET or EOD.
BOM
Bill of Materials β€” every fabric, ballistic and trim item that goes into one finished product.

Products & materials

Carrier
A vest built to hold ballistic plates (Bellator, GPV). Different from soft-armour vests (CTV, BFV).
SAP / HAP
Soft Armour Panel (flexible, sits in a carrier pocket) / Hard Armour Plate (rigid ceramic, steel or PE).
Trim
All the non-fabric hardware: webbing, hook & loop, buckles, zips, elastic, bungee, triglides, ladderlocks.
Trim sheet
A reusable template listing every piece of trim a product needs β€” one sheet can serve many items.
MOLLE
The standard grid of webbing loops on a vest for attaching pouches.
MTP / Multicam
UK / US camo patterns β€” both map to Olive Green trims by Sarkar convention.

Export & logistics

CIPL
Commercial Invoice + Packing List β€” the two-page export PDF that ships with every international order.
ECJU / SIEL / OGL
The UK export-licence body; a Standard Individual Export Licence (specific consignee); an Open General Licence (low-risk destinations).
HS code / ML rating
The international customs code (carriers β‰ˆ 62113310) and the UK Military List class (ML13d1 body armour, ML13d2 helmets).
Net / gross / fabric weight
Product without packaging (customs) / with packaging (packing list) / cloth only (costing).
MOQ
Minimum Order Quantity β€” the smallest amount a supplier will sell.
πŸ”£ Icon legend β€” the same icons everywhere
✎ Edit this row / item
⧉ Duplicate
βœ• Remove (confirms first)
↔ Swap / merge / move
β†— Opens in a new tab
↻ Reload from the server
οΌ‹ Add a new row / item
βš™οΈ Settings / manage
🧡 Link a trim sheet
β˜… Saved / favourite / override
πŸ“₯ πŸ“€ Goods in / goods out
⚠️ Warning β€” read it
πŸ’‘ Tips & good habits
  • Sign in with your own PIN. Every record is tagged with who was signed in β€” sharing a PIN breaks the audit trail.
  • Search first. Every list page has a search box; type part of a name instead of scrolling.
  • Drafts are cheap. Start an order draft the moment a job looks likely β€” a job ref only burns when you finalise.
  • Size / colour accept anything. Pick a suggestion or type a one-off (4XL, a custom colour) β€” job sheets still pick it up.
  • Drag photos straight onto an item's Photos card (up to 12 per drop); click one for the lightbox.
  • Attach everything to the order β€” scanned POs, signed specs, supplier confirmations β€” so it's all in one place.
  • Preview before export. Every job sheet and the CIPL open a preview where notes and prices can still be edited.
  • Run Data Audit before generating sheets β€” each missing field it flags is a broken rollup waiting to happen.
  • Watch the status pill in the header: green OK, amber = backup stale, red = database down.
πŸ›  Troubleshooting

"Could not reach the stock server"

  • The server is off or rebooting β€” wait a minute and retry.
  • The service crashed β€” the admin can restart it (sudo systemctl restart sarkar-stock).
  • On the public URL (project-osprey.uk), sign in again if the email-code screen appears β€” access expires periodically.

Page looks broken / stuck on "Loading…"

Usually a stale cached script. Hard refresh: Cmd+Shift+R (Mac) or Ctrl+Shift+R (Windows).

A form won't save

Read the error β€” it usually names the missing field. Anything cryptic ("Illegal mix of collations") is one for the admin.

A photo or file upload failed

Images: real image files, ≀ 15 MB, max 12 per drop. Order documents (PDF / Word / Excel): use + Upload file on the order β€” up to 30 MB.

I deleted something important

Most deletes are soft β€” the data is still there and the admin can restore it. Backups also run hourly, so worst case is losing under an hour.

A job ref went on the wrong order

Job refs are never recycled β€” cancel the order and create a new one. Don't renumber things by hand; it breaks the audit trail.

Still stuck? Email the admin with the page you were on, what you clicked, and the exact error message (copy-paste beats screenshots).