---
title: How to run a production order
url: https://tideswell.xyz/docs/purchasing/production-orders
description: Start a run for a product you make, track it through its stages, record what it used, and add the finished units to Shopify.
---

> Documentation index: fetch https://tideswell.xyz/llms.txt to discover every page before exploring further.

# How to run a production order



A **production order** is one run of a product you make yourself, from the components that go
into it to the finished units on your shelf. Production orders live at **Buying › Production
orders**, beside your purchase orders. See <Ref to="purchasing" /> for the rest of Buying.

At Fairgreen Golf Co., the studio sews its own Classic headcovers. Priya Raman starts a run for 200
in Navy, the run copies its canvas, zips and labels from the recipe, and when the run is done she
adds 196 good headcovers to Shopify in one step.

## Before you start [#before-you-start]

You need:

* The **Store** and **Production orders** modules switched on in **Settings › Modules**. The
  **Vertically integrated** operating model switches it on. See <Ref to="workspace-admin/modules" />.
* **View production orders** to see the list, and both **Create production orders** and **Edit
  production orders** to start one. All three start at member on **Settings › Permissions**.
* Your own stock locations confirmed on **Buying › Data feeds**, because finished goods can only
  go to a location you own. See <Ref to="store/open-to-buy-feed" />.

A recipe is optional. With the **Bills of materials** module on, a run copies its components from
the product's recipe, covered in <Ref to="purchasing/bills-of-materials" />.

## How do you start a run? [#how-do-you-start-a-run]

Press **New production order** at the top of **Buying › Production orders**. One order makes one
product.

1. Under **Makes**, search for the product or its SKU and pick it. A product with a recipe shows
   **Has a recipe** and lists its **Components from the recipe**; one without reads "No recipe
   yet. You can add components by hand."
2. Type **How many to make**, as a whole number.
3. Under **Finished goods go to**, pick the location the finished units go into.
4. Set a **Start** and **Due** date and an **Owner** if you want them.
5. Press **Create production order**.

The order gets its own number, such as **PRD-0001**, and opens at its first stage. Nothing changes
in Shopify until you finish it.

## What does the list show? [#what-does-the-list-show]

One row per run, with **Order**, **Makes**, **Stage**, **When**, **Owner** and **Due**, and a
column showing how many have been made against how many were planned. Runs are grouped under **Needs you**, **In progress**, **Planned**, **Finished** and
**Cancelled**, and the last two start folded.

**Needs you** holds the open runs that are due today or earlier, or whose current stage is past
its expected date. The line above the list counts them as late, beside **Making now**, the units
in runs that are in progress.

Search by product or order number, or use the filter for **Stage** and **Owner**.

## What stages does a run move through? [#what-stages-does-a-run-move-through]

**Planned**, **Materials in**, **In production**, **Quality check**, **Done** and **Cancelled**, unless
your workspace renamed them. An admin changes them in **Settings › Stages › Production orders**.

Change a run's stage from **Stage** on the order's properties. **Done** cannot be picked there; it
reads "Finish the run to mark it done", because a run is done when you finish it.

The **Stages** section on the order lists every stage with an **Expected** date you can set and
the **Actual** date it was reached. A stage past its expected date reads **Late**.

## How do you change the components? [#how-do-you-change-the-components]

The **Components** table lists each component with its amount **Per unit** and how much the run
will need in total under **Planned**. A run started from a recipe says "Copied from the recipe when
the run started."

* **Add component** adds a line. Give it a **Component name**, an amount and a unit, such as
  0.4 m.
* Each line's edit and remove buttons change it or take it out.
* **Reload from recipe** replaces the run's components with the recipe's current list. Changes
  made on this run are lost, and the confirmation says so.

The components are this run's own copy. Editing them never changes the recipe, and changing the
recipe never changes a run already started.

## How do you finish a run? [#how-do-you-finish-a-run]

Press **Finish run** above the components. The window is titled **Finish** and the order number.

1. Type the **Good units made**. The window compares it with the plan, such as "4 short of the 200
   planned · 98% yield".
2. Under **Components used**, type how much of each component was used. The **Planned** column
   shows what the recipe expected.
3. Read the Shopify line, such as "Shopify: add 196 to Classic headcover, Navy at Studio".
4. Press **Finish and add 196 to Shopify**.

The run moves to **Done** and the finished units are added to your Shopify stock at the location
you picked, as one change in Shopify's stock history labelled with the order number. Shopify's
stock goes up straight away, so check the number before you press.

## Do components go to Shopify? [#do-components-go-to-shopify]

No. **Components used** is recorded in Tideswell so you can see what each run really used, and
the window says "These numbers do not go to Shopify." Only the finished units are added.

## Can you finish part of a run? [#can-you-finish-part-of-a-run]

Yes. Tick &#x2A;*This is only part of the run. Keep the order open for the rest.** The button then
reads, for example, **Add 100 to Shopify, keep run open**, and the window says how many are still
to make.

The run stays open for the next batch, and you record what was used when the run is finished.

## How do you undo a finish? [#how-do-you-undo-a-finish]

Press **Undo finish** on the green **Added 196 to Shopify** note on the order, or
**Undo** beside that finish in **Finish history**. The confirmation reads "Take 196 back out of
Shopify and reopen this run?", and **Yes, take them out** takes the units back out of Shopify.

A finished run refuses other changes until its finish is undone.

## What if Shopify did not confirm a finish? [#what-if-shopify-did-not-confirm-a-finish]

**Finish history** shows it in red with the reason, and **Retry** sends it again.

After a day Shopify forgets the attempt. Check that product's stock in Shopify, then press **They
were added** or **They were not added**. Choose **They were not added** only if the stock did not
go up, because it frees the run to be finished again.

## How do you type quantities? [#how-do-you-type-quantities]

As US numbers: a full stop for decimals and commas between thousands, so 1,200 is twelve hundred
and 0.4 is four tenths. A decimal comma such as 1,5 is refused rather than read as 15.

Units made and how many to make are whole numbers. Component amounts can be fractions, such as
0.4 m of canvas.