Bramble and Rye Bakery: an orders and stock board

The problem

A bakery runs on tomorrow's orders and today's flour. The orders are on a whiteboard and a notebook, the stock is in the baker's head, and the shopping list is written the night before when something has already run out. A big order for 60 cinnamon buns sets off a scramble.

What we built

For Bramble and Rye Bakery, a made up bakery, we would build an orders and stock board. This week's orders sit by day, the shelves show what is low, and the shopping list builds itself from the shelves, grouped by supplier.

Problem and answer

• Orders live on a whiteboard that gets wiped.

  Orders for the week sit by day, with the customer, the item and the pickup time. Each is checked off as it is packed.

• The flour runs out in the middle of a bake.

  Every item has a level the baker wants on the shelf. When it falls short, it goes on the list.

• The shopping list is rewritten each week.

  It fills itself from the shelves, and the baker can put an item on it with a tap.

• The same supplier is phoned 3 times in one week.

  The list is grouped by supplier, so one order covers everything from one place.

• Nobody can tell what is urgent.

  Stock is shown as Running low, Getting short or Fine, with the low items first.

How it works

1. 01Orders go on the board, from a website form, a message or the counter.
2. 02The baker sees the week by day and checks each order off as it is packed.
3. 03After a bake, someone updates what is left on the shelves.
4. 04The shopping list updates, grouped by supplier. The baker marks each as ordered.

Works with

• Gmail, to send each supplier their order from the bakery's own address
• A form on the bakery's website, so customers can ask for a big order
• Square, for orders and payments taken at the counter
• QuickBooks, so supplier bills and customer invoices reach the books

The plan we would follow

1. Week 1We spend an early morning in the bakery and copy down the whiteboard, the notebook and the usual suppliers.
2. Weeks 2 and 3We build the order board, the shelf levels and the shopping list.
3. Week 4The bakers run a real week on the board beside the whiteboard, and we fix what differs.
4. Week 5We connect the order form, the supplier emails and the books.
5. Week 6Launch, with the whiteboard retired only when the baker says so.

What the owner keeps

• The tool's code and designs
• The order history and the stock list
• The supplier and customer lists
• The email, form and books accounts, in the owner's name