Set up manufacturing plans

A manufacturing plan standardizes your production workflow. Create it once, and every matching manufacturing order automatically receives the same sequence of work orders—no manual setup, no missed steps, every time.

What you’re setting up

A manufacturing plan consists of four key components:

Each component plays a role in transforming a generic manufacturing order into a specific, actionable set of work orders.

Prerequisites

Before creating manufacturing plans, make sure you have at least one made-to-order product in Orderkraft. Plans match to made-to-order products, so without one a plan has nothing to apply to.

Haven’t set this up? See Set up your first made-to-order product.

You don’t need to prepare anything else. The work order templates your steps are built from get created while you add steps, in Step 2.

Step 1: Create the plan

1. In Orderkraft, navigate to Manufacturing → Plans
2. Click Add plan
3. Enter a descriptive name:
   • Good: “Standard dining table build” or “Apparel production workflow”
   • Avoid: “Plan 1” or “My plan”
4. (Optional) Add a description for internal reference
5. Click Save

⚠️ Note: The plan is now created but empty. It won’t match any manufacturing orders until you add steps and targets.

Step 2: Add steps to the plan

With your plan open:

1. Click Add step
2. Under Work order template, pick an existing template, or choose New work order template… and give it a name. The step takes its name from the template.
3. Set dependencies: Under Runs after, pick the steps that must finish before this one can start. Under Runs before, pick the steps that wait for this one.
   • Example: “Cut fabric” must finish before “Sew panels”
   • Or: “Pack” must wait for both “Finish” AND “QC”
4. Click Add step

Repeat this for every step in your production workflow.

Work order templates are shared by all your plans. Once you’ve created “Final QC”, it’s in the list every time you add a step, in any plan. When a manufacturing order picks up the plan, each step becomes a work order.

Step 3: Set targets

⚠️ Important: A plan with no targets won’t match any manufacturing orders.

To assign your plan to products:

1. In the plan detail view, locate the Targets section
2. Click Add target
3. Search for and select:
   • A specific product variant (most specific)
   • An entire product
   • A collection
4. Repeat for every product the plan should apply to

Matching hierarchy: When a manufacturing order arrives, Orderkraft checks in this order:

1. Variant-specific plan
2. Product-level plan
3. Collection-level plan
4. Shop default plan (if set)

The most specific match always wins.

Step 4: Configure plan settings (optional)

Set as default plan

If most of your products share the same workflow:

1. In the plan detail view, find the Settings section
2. Toggle Default plan to ON
3. Click Save

⚠️ Only one plan can be the default per shop. New products with no specific plan will automatically use this default.

Enable auto-complete

Remove one click from your team’s workflow:

1. In the plan detail view, find the Settings section
2. Toggle Auto-complete to ON
3. Click Save

When enabled, completing the last work order automatically completes the entire manufacturing order.

When to disable: If you want someone to physically inspect or sign off on finished products before marking orders complete.

Step 5: Test your plan

Before going live, verify your plan works correctly:

1. Create a test order for a product that matches your plan
2. In Orderkraft, open the manufacturing order
3. Verify the following:
   • ✅ All expected steps appear as work orders
   • ✅ Dependencies between work orders match your plan settings
   • ✅ Work orders become startable only after their dependencies complete
   • ✅ Completing work orders in sequence allows progress through the order
   • ✅ Completing the last work order finishes the manufacturing order (if auto-complete is ON)
   • ✅ Or you must manually complete the manufacturing order (if auto-complete is OFF)

Fix any issues before using the plan for real customer orders.

Best practices for multiple plans

As your product catalog grows, you’ll likely need multiple plans. Follow these best practices:

✅ Reuse work order templates — Create “Final QC” once, then pick it in every plan that needs it.

✅ Be specific with targets — If a product has a unique workflow, give it its own dedicated plan rather than forcing it into a shared plan.

✅ Start with a default plan — This acts as a safety net, catching any product that doesn’t have a specific plan assigned yet.

✅ Name plans descriptively — “Dining table build - oak” is better than “Plan 2”

✅ Document plan purpose — Add descriptions to remind your team what each plan is for

❌ Don’t over-share plans — A plan that tries to cover too many products becomes unwieldy

Edit a plan

Important: Editing a plan only affects new manufacturing orders. Orders already in production keep the steps they were created with. This prevents mid-production changes from disrupting work already underway.

Archive or delete a plan

• Archive: Recommended for cleanup. Hides the plan from the list but preserves it. Manufacturing orders already using it continue to work normally.
• Delete: Removes the plan from the list entirely. Manufacturing orders already using it keep their steps, but the plan definition is gone.

To archive or delete: Open the plan, click the three-dot menu, and select your option.

What’s next

With manufacturing plans set up, your production workflow is standardized. Next, consider setting up:

• Track production on the order page — See work orders directly in Shopify Admin for full visibility
• Show production status to customers — Let customers track their order progress in real-time
• Set up Shopify Flow triggers — Automate actions (notifications, tags, etc.) when manufacturing orders change status
• Enable split shipments — Ship stocked items immediately while production completes
• Set up bill of materials — Define what raw materials and components each product requires