Dates
The Dates section of the Order application captures key timestamps for each order’s lifecycle. It provides a single place to review order progress, confirm key milestones and support accurate auditing over time.
Tracking dates helps align production, freight, and delivery workflows. While some fields are fixed and system-generated, others can be updated by users to reflect important events like production start, shipping milestones, or target delivery windows. These fields anchor order-specific ship dates, ex‑factory readiness, and delivery commitments that flow through to reports and dashboards. Keeping them aligned with your critical path helps suppliers and logistics partners work to the same expectations for this order.
Date Types
The Dates section displays both system-generated dates and user-configurable milestone dates. System-controlled fields ensure accurate audit trails, while editable dates support flexible order timeline management.
System-Generated Dates
These dates are automatically managed by the system and cannot be edited, ensuring accurate audit trails and traceability.
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| Created | Date and time when the order was first created. This timestamp is set automatically upon order creation and cannot be modified. (Read-only) |
| Updated | Date and time of the most recent system update to the order. This field refreshes automatically whenever any changes are saved to the order record. (Read-only) |
| Completed | The date when the order was marked as completed. This is a system-managed, non-editable field used for lifecycle tracking and reporting. Orders are automatically marked as Completed once they have passed the In Store date by 180 days. (Read-only) |
User-Configurable Dates
These date fields can be edited manually using a user-friendly calendar picker to track key milestones throughout the order lifecycle.
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| Advertised | The date when the product is planned to be advertised or made visible to customers. This helps align marketing and sales activities with order timelines. (Editable) |
| Start | The planned or actual start date for order processing or production. This date supports scheduling, workload planning, and critical path tracking. Use this to mark when active work on the order begins. (Editable) |
| Ex-Factory | The date when the goods are expected to leave the factory or are ready for pickup. This is commonly used for logistics planning, lead-time calculations, and coordinating with freight forwarders. Typically precedes ETD (Estimated Time of Departure). (Editable) |
| ETD (Estimated Time of Departure) | The estimated date the shipment is scheduled to depart from the supplier or origin port. This field supports freight planning, shipping coordination, and helps calculate downstream delivery timelines. When setting ETD, consider transit times to ensure accurate ETA projections. (Editable) |
| ETA (Estimated Time of Arrival) | The estimated date goods are expected to arrive at their final destination (e.g., warehouse, distribution center). This date is crucial for inventory planning, retail planning, and coordinating with downstream teams. Should be calculated based on ETD plus transit duration. (Editable) |
| In Store | The date the product should be available for customers to purchase in retail locations or online. This date helps align marketing activities, store planning, and launch timelines. Cannot be set to a date in the past. (Editable) |
| Stopped | Indicates the date when the order was paused or stopped. This is typically used when an order is placed on hold due to issues or changes in requirements. (Editable) |
Using Date Fields
- Set a date: Click on any editable date field to open the calendar picker and select a date.
- Clear a date: Click the ✕ icon next to a selected date to remove it.
- Date relationships: When planning dates, ensure logical sequencing (e.g., Start > Ex-Factory > ETD > ETA > In Store).
Important Notes When Adding Dates
ETD Auto-Update Feature: When editing the ETD date, a pop-up prompting to "Automatically update ETA and In Store" will only appear if the Order's Origin has been configured with offset values in Site Settings > Shipping > Origin. This feature helps maintain date consistency across related fields.
Date Sequencing: Maintain logical date relationships to ensure accurate planning:
- Start should precede production-related dates
- Ex-Factory typically comes before ETD
- ETD should precede ETA (allowing for transit time)
- ETA should precede In Store (allowing for warehouse processing)
In Store Date Restrictions: The In Store date cannot be set to a date in the past. This ensures accurate delivery forecasting and prevents scheduling conflicts.
Automatic Completion: Orders are automatically marked as Completed once they have passed the In Store date by 180 days. If an incorrect year or date is entered, the In Store date must be corrected before changing the status back to In Production; otherwise, the order will continue to revert to Completed after the 180‑day threshold.
Reporting Impact: Date fields are used extensively in reporting and dashboard widgets. Keeping dates accurate and up-to-date ensures reliable visibility into order progress, delivery forecasts, and bottleneck identification.
Historical Accuracy: System-generated dates (Created, Updated, Completed) provide an immutable audit trail.
Best Practices
- Set dates early: Establish key milestone dates at the start of order processing to help teams track progress and identify potential delays before they impact delivery.
- Review dates regularly: Schedule periodic reviews of date fields to ensure they remain realistic as order requirements evolve. Update dates promptly to maintain accurate visibility in reports and dashboards.
- Use dates for filtering: Leverage date fields in order views and reports to filter by upcoming deadlines, identify overdue items, or group orders by delivery phases for better project management.
- Align dates with critical path milestones: Ensure Start, Ex‑Factory, ETD, ETA and In Store dates match your approved order critical path so downstream teams can plan production, freight and delivery with confidence.
- Correct issues at the source: If the In Store date or year is incorrect, update it immediately rather than repeatedly changing the order status; this prevents orders from automatically reverting to Completed after 180 days.
- Keep dates current: Regularly update editable dates (such as Advertised, Start and Stopped) so reports and dashboards reflect the true status of your orders. Outdated dates can mislead teams and impact production planning, freight coordination, and retail readiness.
