"Can you check on our order?"
A buyer rings to ask whether their shipper cases will arrive on Thursday. Customer service opens the MIS, which shows the job as in production. They ring the planning office, who check the board, and walk to the die-cutter to see whether the job has run. Twenty minutes later they ring the buyer back.
That happens many times a day. The same buyers ring back the next day, because nothing tells them if anything changes.
Status is known on the floor, not in the office
The MIS knows the job exists and its due date, but the real progress, which operations are complete and what is waiting, is known on the floor and in the planner's head. Unless operators record progress in a system, customer service has no choice but to ask.
- Operation progress is not recorded in real time.
- Material delays are known to planning but not shared.
- Despatch dates change without customer service knowing.
- Customers have no way to check for themselves.
- Delays are communicated after the due date passes.
What status calls cost
Customer service spends its day chasing information instead of helping customers. Planners and supervisors are interrupted. Customers who have to ring for information feel less confident in you, and a late delivery announced on the day is much more damaging than one flagged a week ahead. The busiest customers ring the most, which crowds out everyone else.
There is a knock on effect inside the plant as well. Each call becomes a small request to move a job up the queue, and planners end up rescheduling around whoever rang most recently rather than around due dates and machine efficiency.
Sales reps are caught in the middle as well. They field calls from buyers they have spent years building relationships with, and without facts to hand they either promise too much or sound as though they do not know their own factory.
Live order status we build
- Operators record progress on screens at each machine: job started, operation complete, quantity produced. Where machines provide signals, those are used.
- Material status, such as board confirmed, delivered or delayed, is taken from purchasing and goods in.
- Each order shows its status in plain terms: waiting for board, printing, die-cutting, gluing, finished, despatched, with an expected despatch date calculated from the schedule.
- Customer service sees every order for a customer on one screen, so a call is answered in seconds.
- Customers can see their open orders in a portal, with the same status and expected date.
- When a job's expected date moves past its due date, customer service and the customer are notified, so a delay is raised as soon as it is known.
| Question | Answered now by | Answered afterwards by |
|---|---|---|
| Has it been printed? | Walking to the floor | Status from the machine screen |
| Is the board in? | Asking planning | Material status on the order |
| When will it ship? | Planner's estimate | Expected date from the schedule |
| Is it going to be late? | Found on the due date | Alert when the date moves |
| Can I check myself? | No | Customer portal |
Fewer calls, earlier warnings
Customer service answers status questions immediately and spends more time on things that need them. Many customers stop calling because they can see status themselves or are told proactively. Delays are communicated early, which gives customers time to adjust. And planners and supervisors are interrupted less.
Are status calls running your day?
- Customer service walks to the floor to check job status.
- Customers ring several times about the same order.
- Late deliveries are communicated on the due date.
- Planners are interrupted constantly for updates.
- Customers have no way to see order status themselves.