Job Management and Tracking in CraftOps

Every fabrication shop lives and dies by its ability to manage jobs effectively. A missed deadline, a lost file, or a forgotten customer update can cost you repeat business and damage your reputation. CraftOps provides a structured job management system that keeps every order organized, visible, and on track from the moment it enters your shop to the moment the customer has it in hand. This post covers how jobs are created, how they flow through status stages, how machines are assigned, and how customer communication stays seamless throughout the process.

Creating and Organizing Jobs

Jobs enter CraftOps in one of three ways. Customers can submit requests through the customer portal, uploading their files and specifying requirements like material, color, quantity, and deadline. Your team can create jobs manually from the dashboard, which is common for walk-in customers or phone orders. Jobs can also come in through the CraftOps Marketplace when a buyer selects your shop for their project.

Regardless of how a job arrives, it lands in your job queue with all the relevant details attached. Each job record includes the customer information, uploaded design files, material requirements, quantity, requested deadline, and any special instructions. CraftOps assigns a unique job number automatically and timestamps every action taken on the job, creating a complete audit trail. You can tag jobs with custom labels for easy filtering, such as "rush," "prototype," "repeat order," or any categories that match your workflow. The job list view supports sorting and filtering by status, customer, machine, material, due date, and priority, so you can always find exactly what you need.

Status Workflow and Machine Assignment

CraftOps uses a configurable status workflow to track each job through your production process. The default stages are Pending Review, Quoted, Approved, Scheduled, In Production, Quality Check, Ready for Pickup or Shipping, and Completed. You can customize these stages to match your specific process, adding or removing steps as needed. For example, some shops add a "Design Review" stage before quoting, while others include a "Post-Processing" stage between production and quality check for jobs that require sanding, painting, or assembly.

When a job is ready for production, you assign it to a specific machine. CraftOps shows you each machine's current queue, estimated availability, and material compatibility, making it easy to pick the right machine for the job. For shops with multiple identical printers, CraftOps can auto-assign jobs to the next available compatible machine, balancing the workload across your fleet. Once assigned, the job appears in that machine's queue in priority order, and operators can see exactly what is coming next without having to ask.

Timeline tracking runs throughout the entire process. CraftOps records when each status change occurs, calculates the time spent in each stage, and compares actual progress against the customer's requested deadline. If a job falls behind schedule, the dashboard highlights it with a warning so you can take action before the deadline passes. Over time, this data gives you powerful insights into your shop's throughput, bottlenecks, and average turnaround times by job type.

Customer Communication and Notifications

One of the biggest time sinks in running a fabrication shop is answering customer questions about job status. CraftOps eliminates most of these inquiries by keeping customers informed automatically. Every time a job moves to a new status stage, the customer receives a notification through their preferred channel, whether that is email, SMS, or an update in the customer portal. The messages are customizable templates, so you control the tone and level of detail in each notification.

Beyond automated updates, CraftOps includes a messaging thread on each job where you and the customer can exchange notes. If you spot an issue with a design file and need clarification, you send a message right from the job record. The customer responds through the portal, and the entire conversation stays attached to the job for reference. This is far more reliable than scattered email threads, and it means anyone on your team can pick up the conversation without missing context.

Tip: Set up your notification templates before your first customer order. Craft clear, professional messages for each status transition. A well-worded "Your job is now in production" notification builds confidence and reduces "where's my order?" inquiries by as much as eighty percent.

What's Next

Understanding job management is essential, but it is only one piece of the workflow. The next post in this series takes you through the complete job lifecycle from initial quote request to final delivery and invoicing. We will show you how each stage connects and how CraftOps keeps everything flowing smoothly. If you want to explore how machines are connected and monitored in real time, check out our machine integration guide for details on OctoPrint, Bambu Cloud, and other supported platforms.