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Critical Path

The Critical Path section allows you to define, edit, and manage milestone templates used across your orders. These structured timelines include sequenced activities, dependencies, and offsets that guide key workflow stages such as production, delivery, and compliance.

Critical Path

Each critical path template includes grouped sections and time-based activities that are used to track milestone completion. Using templates ensures consistency across product categories and improves visibility into the full lifecycle of an order.

Critical Path

Quick Check - Before You Start
  • You can edit Site Settings › Orders › Critical Path
  • Confirm Activities exist for every milestone you plan to reference
  • Enable Display on portal before Approve from portal on each activity row

Managing Critical Path Templates

You can easily add, edit, and delete critical path templates to standardise your workflows.

Add a Critical Path Template

  1. Click the Add New button in the top left.
  2. Enter a clear Critical Path Name.
  3. Add activity to populate the timeline.
  4. Click Save to create the new template.

Add Critical Path

Edit a Critical Path Template

  1. Click the pencil icon next to the template you want to modify.
  2. Update the Critical Path Name or Section Name as needed.
  3. Modify activities by changing the Activity Name, Condition, Notes, Reference, Offset Days, or Date.
  4. Add new sections or activities using the corresponding buttons.
  5. Click Save to apply your changes.

Actions Column

The Actions Column is a critical component within the Activities section that provides essential controls for managing activity visibility and approval workflows. This column contains three key action buttons that enable users to control how activities are displayed and approved through the portal.

When editing a critical path template, under the Activities section, users will find the Actions Column which includes:

  • Approve from portal – Enables portal-based approval for the activity. Approve from portal
  • Display on portal – Controls whether the activity is visible on the portal. Display on portal
  • Delete – Removes the activity from the critical path template. Delete

Display on Portal Dependency

The Display on portal setting is a prerequisite for portal approvals. This dependency ensures that activities must first be visible on the portal before they can be approved through it.

How it works:

  1. Click Display on portal to enable portal visibility for an activity.
  2. Once Display on portal is enabled, the Approve from portal button becomes active and clickable.
  3. If Display on portal is not enabled, the Approve from portal button remains disabled and cannot be clicked.

This workflow dependency is essential for maintaining data integrity and ensuring that only visible activities can receive portal-based approvals. It prevents approval workflows from being activated for activities that are not intended to be displayed to portal users.

Important

The Display on portal setting must be enabled before Approve from portal can be activated. This ensures proper workflow sequencing and prevents approval actions on hidden activities.

Delete Activities Within a Template

  • Single Delete: Click the trash can icon next to an activity and confirm the action to remove it.

Single Delete Activity

  • Bulk Delete: Select the checkboxes for multiple activities, then click the delete button that appears at the top of the list.

Bulk Delete Activities

Delete a Critical Path Template

  • Single Delete: Click the trash can icon next to a critical path template and confirm the action.

Delete Critical Path

  • Bulk Delete: Select the checkboxes for multiple templates, then click the delete button that appears at the top of the table.

Bulk Delete Critical Path

Toolbar Actions

The toolbar provides several options for managing your list of critical path templates:

  • Filter: Toggle the view between Enabled, Disabled, or All templates.
  • Export: Download the full list of critical paths in .xlsx format.
  • History: Export a complete change log for auditing and review purposes.

Toolbar Actions

Customising the Table View

The table layout can be customised to suit your preferences using the following features:

Feature Description
Sort by Organise templates by name, date, or other fields.
Pin Column Lock important columns in place for consistent visibility while scrolling.
Autosize Column Automatically adjust column widths to fit the content.
Show/Hide Columns Choose which columns to display to create a tailored view.
Reset Columns Restore the table to its default layout.

Customise Critical Path Table

Pro tips
  • Use Sections for Clarity: Group related tasks under clear section names (e.g., Design, Development, Production) to make your timelines easy to follow.
  • Master the Offset: Use the Offset Days field to create dynamic timelines. For example, setting an activity's offset to -14 from the Ex-Factory Date ensures it is always scheduled two weeks prior.
  • Standardise and Reuse: Create master templates for different product types (e.g., Apparel, Footwear) and apply them to new orders. This maintains predictable workflows and significantly reduces setup time.

Troubleshooting

Why is Approve from portal disabled on an order template?

Display on portal is not enabled for that activity row.

Steps to resolve:

  1. Edit the template
  2. Turn on Display on portal, then Approve from portal
Why do two orders show different milestones?

They may use different critical path templates or template versions.

Steps to resolve:

  1. Compare each order’s assigned template
  2. Update the template or reapply it per your operational procedure
How do offsets behave around ex-factory or delivery dates?

Offset Days shift activities relative to the reference date configured on the row.

Steps to resolve:

  1. Open the template and review Reference and Offset Days together
  2. Test with a pilot order before rolling out template changes