Every production job meets in the same bin.
One order can contain several production jobs: screen printing, DTF, embroidery or products coming from different departments. Each job is finished at a different time, but the order has to be packed and shipped together.
PrintBlocks gathers the jobs of one order into a single bin. Each job joins it as it is finished, and only when every part is there is the bin marked ready for packing.
Bring every part of the order together
When a production job reaches a status your shop counts as finished, it joins its order's bin on the packing board.
Jobs can come from different machines, departments and print methods, but they gather in one place until the whole order is ready.
See what has arrived and what is still missing
Each bin lists its jobs with a running count of how many are finished, so a glance says three of five rather than nothing at all.
The packing team does not need to visit every department or open the order to find out whether something is still out.
Ready only when every job is finished
PrintBlocks knows how many jobs belong to the order and how many have arrived.
While one is still out the bin stays open. When the last one is finished the card turns green and is marked ready.
Nothing gets packed half finished
Without a place where the parts meet, the shirts get packed before the caps come back from embroidery, and the order ships a job short.
The bin makes that impossible to miss: an order that is not ready is not marked ready, and it says exactly which jobs are still in production.
Pack straight from the bin
Open the bin and you are in the packing step: the jobs that are still out, the shipping details, and the shipping label to print. The label is recorded as printed on the order, so the next person on another device does not print it twice.
You decide what counts as finished
Which production statuses put a job in its bin is your own setting, and so is what each card shows: customer, contact, shipping method, order status, print date, production deadline or delivery date.
Everyone sees the same board
Production sees which order a finished job belongs to, packing sees which bins are ready, and anyone can see which job an order is still waiting for. The board updates as the work moves, rather than depending on one person remembering.
Questions shops ask
What is a bin in PrintBlocks?
A bin is one order's finished work, gathered on the packing board. PrintBlocks tracks which of the order's jobs are finished rather than which shelf they are sitting on, so the bin is the order rather than a slot you assign.
Why do we need a bin if each job already has a status?
Because a single order can include several jobs finished at different times by different departments. A status tells you about one job. The bin tells you whether the order is whole.
How do we know whether every part of the order has arrived?
PrintBlocks compares the jobs belonging to the order with the ones that have reached a finished status, and shows the count on the card. Your team can see what has arrived and what is still missing.
What happens when every job is finished?
The bin turns green and is marked ready, which is the signal to pack it.
Can we see which job is still missing?
Yes. The bin lists every job with its status, and the packing step opens with the ones that are still out named at the top.
Can an order be packed before its bin is ready?
PrintBlocks does not lock the packing step, because a shop sometimes has a good reason to send part of an order. What it does is make an incomplete order impossible to pack by accident: the bin is not marked ready, and it names the jobs still in production.
Do we need special storage equipment?
No. Keep using the shelves, boxes and collection areas you already have. PrintBlocks tracks whether the work is finished, not where it is stored, so nothing has to be labelled or scanned.
What happens to the bin after packing?
A bin is the order itself rather than a physical slot, so there is nothing to empty or hand on to the next order. Which statuses keep an order on the board is your own setting.
Do not pack until the entire order is ready.
Gather every production job into the same bin, and release the order for packing only when everything is there.