Made perfectly, to last year's spec
A customer changed their shipper case from one board grade to a lighter one to save cost, agreed with your sales rep by email. They also asked for the internal length to grow slightly to fit a new product. Three months later a repeat order arrives. The job is copied from the previous job in the MIS, which predates the change, and the cases are made to the old specification.
The customer's packing line rejects them. Now there is a reprint, a disagreement about who pays, and a customer asking whether they can trust the next delivery.
Repeat jobs copy the last job
In many plants the product specification is effectively the last job ticket. Changes are agreed by sales or technical, often in email or on a call, and they reach production only if someone updates the product record before the next order. Nothing stops a repeat from being copied from an outdated job.
- Changes are agreed by email and not recorded against the product.
- Repeat orders are created by copying the previous job.
- Tooling and artwork are not tied to a spec version.
- Nobody formally approves a spec change.
- The customer's own spec reference is not linked to yours.
The cost of making the wrong version
Making to the old spec means rework, waste and delivery delays, and it puts the account at risk because it looks like carelessness. Tooling may need to be changed at short notice. Where a change was missed on a food or pharmaceutical customer's packaging, it may also raise questions for their quality team. Every repeat order carries the risk that some forgotten change is waiting.
The change process itself becomes a source of friction. Sales feel they told production, production feel nobody told them, and the customer only cares that the cases do not fit. Without a record of who agreed what and when, every incident turns into an argument about memory.
Specification control we build
- Each product has a specification record: style, dimensions, board or substrate, print, finishing, packing and palletisation, the customer's own reference, and linked forme, plates and approved artwork.
- Every change creates a new version, with what changed, why, who requested it and when it takes effect.
- Changes go through an approval step with sales, technical and, where needed, the customer, before the version becomes current.
- Repeat orders are created from the current version of the product, not from a previous job. Copying an old job is blocked or flagged.
- If a change affects tooling or artwork, the new version cannot be released until the matching forme and plates are recorded.
- The job ticket shows the spec version number and highlights what changed since the last run, so the floor knows to look.
| Situation | Now | With specification control |
|---|---|---|
| Change agreed by email | Might reach the product record | Recorded as a new version |
| Repeat order | Copied from the last job | Built from the current version |
| Tooling change needed | Found at make-ready | Blocks release until ready |
| Floor awareness | None | Changes highlighted on the ticket |
| Dispute later | Search emails | Version history with approvals |
What changes for the team
Everyone works from the same specification. Changes are captured when they are agreed, and approvals are visible. The floor sees what is different about this run. And when a customer queries a delivery, the version history shows exactly what was agreed and when.
Could a repeat order catch you out?
- Repeat orders are copied from the last job.
- Spec changes are agreed by email.
- You have made a repeat order to an old specification.
- Tooling and artwork versions are not tied to the product.
- The floor cannot see what changed since the last run.