Example project · The small tool between the spreadsheets - One backorder board instead of three spreadsheets
Backorders are tracked in spreadsheets owned by sales, purchasing, and the warehouse, and none of them agree. We build a single board fed nightly from the ERP where every open line has an owner and a next action.
Pioneer Mill Supply. $22M revenue, mill and maintenance supplies, sales and purchasing in one office.
The situation
A customer calls about a late order. Sales checks their sheet, purchasing checks theirs, and the answer depends on who picked up.
Supplier promise dates change by email and rarely make it back into the ERP.
What we build
- A nightly export of open order lines, supplier PO status, and promised dates from the ERP into the board’s own database.
- A web app showing each backordered line with customer commitment, supplier promise, days late, owner, next action, and notes. Filters by customer, supplier, and owner.
- A place to record what changed and when, so the history survives staff changes.
The workflow in action
What it brings together
Open order and item records Supplier confirmations and changes Customer commitments The assigned owner and next action Source links and data freshness
What the team can do
- Filter exceptions by owner or branch.
- Investigate the source record.
- Record the next action.
- Prepare an approved follow-up.
- Escalate unresolved work.
One example exception
- Example exception
- Order SO-4012 has a supplier date later than the current customer commitment.
- Suggested next action
- Verify both dates, contact the responsible buyer, and prepare the customer follow-up for review.
- Team approval
- The buyer checks alternatives and the salesperson confirms the revised date with the customer. The order owner updates the ERP.
Example project timeline - What lands on your desk, and when.
Week 1
A mapping of the three spreadsheets to one set of fields, agreed with sales, purchasing, and the warehouse.
Weeks 2 to 3
The first version of the board with live data, used alongside the spreadsheets for comparison.
Week 4
The team working from the board only, with a daily standup around it, and the spreadsheets retired.
Week 5
Adjustments from two weeks of use, a short guide, and handover to a named owner.
What you get
- The board, hosted and documented, with the nightly sync and a failure alert.
- An export so the data is never trapped in the tool.
- A one-page guide for new staff.
What you don’t get
- Writing back to the ERP. Promise-date changes are recorded on the board and updated in the ERP by the person responsible.
- Replacing the ERP’s order screens.
- Automatic customer notifications. Those can be scoped later if the team wants them.
How we measure performance
- Time to answer a customer’s backorder question.
- Backorder lines with no owner or no next action.
- Lines late against the customer commitment, per week.
Let’s start with one thing.
Give your team more time for the work that needs them.
Show us the quoting, order-entry, or follow-up work that keeps piling up. We’ll map it with you and find a practical place to start.
Start with a free workflow conversation with Alex.