Orders workflow
How an order moves from first estimate through reservation, picking, dispatch, return, and closeout.
Help updated for v0.10.21 · 2026-07-13
Estimate
Estimate is the planning stage. Use it when the customer needs a price, a rough package, or a conversation starter, but the company is not ready to protect inventory yet. This is the safest place to use category placeholder lines, broad package ideas, alternate options, and pricing adjustments because the order is still expressing intent rather than making a warehouse promise.
The user experience should feel flexible here. Build the customer, venue, rental dates, prep and pick dates, line items, discounts, notes, and internal assumptions. If you know the exact type, add the type. If you only know the category, use a category allowance so the customer sees a useful ballpark number without pretending a real asset has been selected. Before moving forward, review the total, customer-facing wording, tax/discount assumptions, and whether any lines still need to be resolved.
Estimate work is also where the salesperson should capture what is uncertain. If the customer says “something like an audio console,” use the estimate to price the category and explain the assumption. If a bundle or prebuild adds companion gear, review it before sending the quote so the customer can see what is included, what is optional, and what might become billable if the quantity changes. A good estimate gives the customer confidence without forcing the warehouse to make a promise too early.
Reservation
Reservation is the point where the order starts affecting availability. Moving an estimate into reservation should mean the company is ready to protect inventory for the rental window, including any pick or prep days that count against availability. This is where vague category allowances should be resolved to specific inventory types because a category by itself does not reserve physical stock.
Before reserving, check the dates, quantity, warehouse expectations, customer, venue, and line-item pricing one more time. If the start date moves and rental-duration lock is enabled, the end date should move with it so the same rental length is preserved. If the date range, prep window, pick date, or line quantity changes after reservation, availability needs to be recalculated and any affected line items should make the conflict obvious before the warehouse starts picking.
Reservation should feel stricter than an estimate. The order can still be edited, but the user should understand that edits now have consequences for other jobs. If a reserved line is short, Pluck should help the user decide whether to use local inventory, pull from allowed storage, create a transfer request, create a cross-rental request or order, reduce the quantity, change dates, or document a manager override. The important habit is to resolve availability questions here, not during dispatch.
Pick
Pick is where the plan becomes physical. The operator is no longer only saying “three of this type”; they are selecting actual serialized assets, bulk quantities, containers, transfers, or cross-rental fulfillment sources. The pick workflow should make scanning fast, keep sections clear, and show what is already packed so the user can work down the list without losing context.
Use the pick list when you need a paper or screen guide for the warehouse. Use scan entry when the barcode or QR code is faster than searching. Use containers when the order needs packing structure, but finish or clear container mode when the user is done so the next scan does not accidentally pack into the wrong place. If a line has bundle additions, optional bundle choices, or adjusted quantities, those choices should be visible during review so the pick reflects the actual order, not just the original template.
Picking should also preserve section intent. If the user is picking a section, continuous scanning should clear that section before moving on instead of silently choosing the next unrelated line. If the user is packing into a container, the container should belong to the section being worked and should be visible as part of the order’s packing context. A clean pick is one where another person can look at the order and understand which assets, bulk counts, containers, kits, and exceptions are actually going out.
Dispatch
Dispatch means the order has physically left normal inventory control. At this stage, the order should already have its picked assets and quantities. Dispatch is not the place to quietly discover missing gear; it is the place to confirm that what was picked is actually going out and that any exceptions are documented.
When dispatching, review missing picks, substitutions, cross-rentals, containers, and customer-facing paperwork. If a picked item should not leave because it is damaged, in maintenance, or assigned elsewhere, correct the pick before dispatch. The item history and order history should make the outbound state clear enough that return processing later can trust what the order says left the building.
This stage is also where paperwork and physical reality should match. If the customer receives a picklist, container list, or estimate/order printout, it should reflect the same state the warehouse is using. If last-minute changes happen at the dock, update the order instead of relying on memory. The next person to answer a customer call or process a return should not need to ask who remembers what actually shipped.
Return and closeout
Return is the reconciliation stage. The team scans or checks in what came back, marks missing or damaged items, updates maintenance when needed, and returns available inventory to the right warehouse. This stage should be operationally careful because it controls whether stock becomes available for the next order.
Closeout should happen after the return state, financial adjustments, notes, and history make sense. If something is missing, damaged, sent to maintenance, or still assigned to a person or container, handle that before treating the order as finished. The closed order should read as a complete story: what the customer requested, what was reserved, what was picked, what left, what came back, and what still needs attention.
Returns are where small mistakes compound if the workflow is rushed. Serialized assets should be scanned back to the correct holder or warehouse. Bulk counts should be counted, not guessed. Kits and containers should be opened enough to confirm that the expected contents came back. If an item needs service, send it to maintenance from the return workflow so availability changes immediately and the next order does not accidentally reserve broken gear.