What it is
GarmentFlow keeps a single, canonical sample record per style validation chain, opened and worked from the Fitting module. A sample carries an optional link to one — the order it is being made for — so the same per-style validation can sit against the order, drive that order’s bulk-production phase advance on PP approval, and be re-read by the order detail without having to be re-keyed there.- Fitting — the per-style validation surface. One Fitting per style,
seven stages, the proving ground from first prototype to a bulk-confirmed
top-of-production sample. Fitting is the record the
manufacturing order reads its fitting
comments, current files, and per-stage materials from, and is the record
whose pre-production stage approval advances a linked order’s work phase
to bulk. The Fitting module list is the Samples list; the first column
is
Sample No. - Order ↔ sample link. The sample’s
Orderfield — set on the sample itself, or set from the order’s own Samples sub-tab — is what wires the sample to its order. A sample may sit without any order (proto / development / salesman work); when it does carry an order link, that link is one order at a time and moves rather than copies if you re-point it. See Linking a sample to an order. - Legacy Order Samples. An older, per-order ledger of customer-approval samples used to be the order Samples surface. It is no longer the source the order’s Samples sub-tab or the Overview Sample Status card read — both now read the lifecycle Sample above — and the standalone Order Samples surface is hidden by default. See The legacy Order Samples ledger at the end of this page for the only escape hatch.
Why it exists
A style is a reusable product record. It needs to be proven — does the design sew up, does the spec measure right, does the prototype fit, does the pre-production sample match what the order team committed to the customer — before the platform commits an order’s quantities to the factory floor. The Fitting is that proving ground: one record per style that holds every round of the validation, every revised spec, every fitting photo, every comment, every physical-sample shipment, on a fixed seven-stage spine the whole team works to. Pinning validation to the style (rather than to each order that runs the style) is what makes the work reusable. The same style can sell to many customers across many seasons, and the Fitting that proved it once is the record production reads from. When an order is linked, the Fitting’s pre-production approval is what tells the order’s lifecycle that the style is signed off for bulk — one signal at one place, not a copy of the approval on every order that runs the style.When it is used
- During style development, opened against the style being developed — the per-style proving ground for everything from a first prototype through to a top-of-production sample.
- Throughout sampling, as the record the team logs every revised spec, every fitting photo, every comment, and every physical-sample shipment against, stage by stage.
- At the pre-production milestone, as the record whose PP approval signals that the style is ready for bulk — and, when an order is linked, automatically advances that order’s work phase.
- When the MO is composed, as the record the manufacturing order pulls fitting comments, current-version files, and per-stage fabric/trim selections from for its rendered content.
Dependencies
- A style to validate. A Fitting is per-style — the
Add-Sample form leads with a
Style master No.picker so the new Fitting ties to a real style record. - Fitting write permission, for the user creating, editing, working a stage, completing a stage, advancing to the next stage, or cancelling / archiving the Fitting. Reads are open to any authenticated user in your tenant.
What depends on it
- The order’s work-phase advance to bulk — when a Fitting is linked to an order, approving the Fitting’s PP stage automatically advances the linked order’s work phase from production samples to bulk production. Without an order link on the Fitting, PP approval is purely informational. See order lifecycle.
- The ’s rendered content — when an MO is composed for an order’s version of the style, it pulls the Fitting’s per-stage comments, the current version of each file on the Fitting’s category tabs, and the per-stage fabric and trim selections into the MO’s content so the factory builds from validated fitting information rather than an untested design. See style vs. order vs. MO.
- The style’s validation history — the Fitting record is where a reader goes to see how a style’s proving rounds went and which round signed off the pre-production standard.
Fields
Group the Fitting’s fields by purpose. The Fitting record carries identity, linkage, sample-level status, and notes; each of the seven stages carries its own dates, status, comments, per-stage materials, files, and shipments.Sample-level — identity
Style master No.— the optional link to the style master the Fitting is validating. Picked from the same style-master picker the order Add-Style step uses: selecting a master auto-fillsStyle number,Style name,Season, andCustomerfrom the style record. The picker also offers a manual-entry option for early development when the style master is not yet created. Linking to a master is preferred — the per-style history, the MO content pull, and the readiness view all read off it.Style name— the style’s name on the Fitting. Required. Carried forward from the style master when one is linked; entered by hand when not.Style number— the customer-facing style number on the Fitting. Optional. Carried forward from the style master when one is linked; the field accepts free-text on a manual-entry Fitting.Season— the selling season the Fitting is for. Optional. Carried forward from the style master when one is linked.Customer— the customer the style is being developed for. Optional. Carried forward from the style master when one is linked.
Sample-level — order link
Order— the optional link to an order the Fitting is being validated for. Picked from a searchable order picker on the Fitting create form and the Fitting detail; the picker searches the full tenant catalogue by order number and customer name. The link is 1:1: a sample is on at most one order, and re-pointing it asks for confirmation and moves it. Clearing the field unlinks the sample. When set, the Fitting’s PP approval automatically advances the linked order’s work phase to bulk production; when left blank, PP approval is informational only. The order side has the same link exposed as the order Samples sub-tab’s “Link sample” and “New sample” actions — see Linking a sample to an order.
Sample-level — status and notes
Status— the Fitting record’s own lifecycle label: active, cancelled, or archived. A new Fitting opens as active. See Status and transitions.Notes— internal-facing free text on the Fitting record. Distinct from the per-stageNotes(see below).
Per stage — identity
Each of the seven stages is its own row on the Fitting, in fixed order.Stage— the stage’s name. The seven stages are Proto, Fit1, Fit2, Fit3, PP, SMS, and Bulk. They are created automatically when the Fitting is opened; you do not add or remove stages.Stage status— the stage’s own lifecycle label: pending, in progress, approved, or rejected. The PROTO stage opens in progress on a new Fitting; the other six open pending. See Status and transitions.
Per stage — dates
ETD— the planned ship-out date for this stage’s physical sample. Operator-set, optional.ETA— the planned arrival date for this stage’s physical sample. Operator-set, optional.Due date— the date the stage’s work is targeted to complete by. Operator-set, optional. The Fitting list flags a stage as overdue when its due date is in the past and the stage is not yet approved or rejected.
Per stage — assignment and materials
Assignee— the user the stage is assigned to. Optional.Fabric master— the optional fabric-master record used for this stage’s physical sample. Picked from the per-tenant fabric master list.Trim master— the optional trim-master record used for this stage’s physical sample. Picked from the per-tenant trim/accessory master list. Both selections feed into the MO’s rendered content for the stage. They are a per-stage recordkeeping field for what was used on this prototype. The style’s remains the canonical record of what the style is made from.
Per stage — comments and notes
Comments— a single short summary entered against the stage row, shown in the Fitting list’s stage cell. Separate from the per-stage comment thread on the Comments sub-tab (see below).Notes— internal-facing free text on the stage itself. Distinct from the Fitting-levelNotes.
Per stage — files (by category)
Each stage has four file categories, kept on the stage’s category sub-tabs:SPEC— the measurement specification files for the stage. Spreadsheet, PDF, or image.Fitting Photo— fitting photos of the sample on the form or model. Images only.Grading— the size-grading documents for the stage. Spreadsheet, PDF, or image. The the stage works to is built from the workspace’s POM Library; a one-off point added in-table stays local to that stage.Shipment— the documents attached to the stage’s physical-sample shipments. Spreadsheet, PDF, or image.
Per stage — SPEC measurement table
The stage’s SPEC sub-tab also carries a structured per-stage measurement table — one row per point of measure, edited in place on the same sub-tab as the SPEC file uploads above. The file attachments are the reference spec (spreadsheet, PDF, or image) the team works to; the structured table is the QA record of what this round’s prototype actually measured to spec. The two sit side by side on the SPEC sub-tab. The table’s columns are:CODE— your team’s short code for the point of measure. Optional.POINT OF MEASURE— the measurement point itself (e.g. chest, sleeve length, hem). Required — a row without one is dropped on save.INSTRUCTIONS— notes on how to take the measurement. Optional.TOL−,TOL+— the lower and upper tolerances aroundREQUESTED. Free text.REQUESTED— the spec target for this measurement point.VENDOR— the value the factory measured and sent back.SAMPLE— the value your team measured on the sample.REVISED— the next-round target when the spec is being revised.COMMENT— per-row free text.DIFFERENCE— derived, display-only:SAMPLE − REQUESTED, shown when both cells parse as numbers and blank otherwise. Plain subtraction — there is no tolerance flagging on the column, and the value is not stored.
POINT OF MEASURE is blank are dropped on save without prompting, so an empty new
row never lands as a blank. The table is per-stage — each of the seven
Fitting stages has its own SPEC table, independent of the others.
The order-scoped per-style grading grid is the sibling for sizes: the
SPEC table verifies what one sample measured to spec at a stage; the
grading grid records the spec at every size on the order. See
Grading.
Per stage — physical-sample shipments
Each stage holds zero or many physical-sample shipments — the Fitting is the record of every sample the factory shipped out for that stage. A shipment row carries the stage’s ship-out date, the carrier tracking number, and the shipment’s contents, so a reader can read back which physical sample went where, when, and on what tracking. The shipment-category files (see above) attach the supporting documents for the stage’s shipments.Per stage — review
Review— the per-stage review sub-tab, where the team builds the structured review for the stage (sections, comments, and image-anchored references) that prints as the stage’s review summary. The review is per-stage and carries forward stage to stage as the validation history.
Business rules
- A Fitting is per-style. One Fitting record validates one style. A different style — even for the same customer in the same season — is a separate Fitting.
- The seven stages are fixed. Every Fitting opens with the same seven stages in the same order: Proto → Fit1 → Fit2 → Fit3 → PP → SMS → Bulk. Stages are not added, renamed, reordered, or removed. The team works the stages in order.
- PROTO opens in progress; the rest open pending. On a new Fitting, the Proto stage’s status is in progress and the team can start work immediately; the other six stages open as pending and stay that way until the team moves to them.
- A stage’s status is independent of the sample-level status. Each stage has its own pending / in progress / approved / rejected lifecycle that progresses through the work; the Fitting record itself carries a separate active / cancelled / archived lifecycle.
- Rejecting a stage requires an approval comment. The team records the reason for the rejection on the stage in the same write; without a comment the rejection is refused.
- Complete and Advance behave differently. “Complete” marks the current stage approved without moving the pointer to the next stage — used when the team wants to sign a stage off and pause. “To Next Steps” marks the current stage approved and moves the Fitting’s current stage to the next one in the spine, flipping that stage from pending to in progress in the same write.
- You cannot advance past Bulk, and you cannot advance from a rejected stage. “To Next Steps” is refused when the current stage is Bulk (there is nothing to advance to) and when the current stage is rejected (the stage needs to be reworked and approved first).
- Approving the PP stage advances a linked order to bulk. Approving the
PP stage — whether via “Complete”, “To Next Steps”, or a direct edit
to the stage’s status — automatically advances the linked order’s work
phase from production samples to bulk production. The advance
only fires when the Fitting carries an
Orderlink and the linked order is at the production samples work phase. Without an order link, the approval is informational; if the linked order is already past the triggering phase, the advance is a no-op. See order lifecycle. - A Fitting can be cancelled or archived. “Cancel sample” moves the Fitting from active to cancelled (the Fitting stops appearing in the active list); “Archive sample” moves it to archived (kept on file, hidden from active views). Cancel and Archive act on the Fitting as a whole, not on a stage.
- Files are kept by version. A file uploaded to a stage’s SPEC, Fitting Photo, Grading, or Shipment category is kept by its filename: re-uploading the same filename to the same category writes a new version and keeps the prior version downloadable, so the stage’s revision history is preserved across all four file categories.
- The MO pulls validated fitting content. When a manufacturing order is composed for an order’s version of the style, the MO content reads the Fitting’s per-stage comments, the current version of each file across the stage’s four file categories, and the per-stage fabric / trim selections. The MO is the consumer; the Fitting is the source.
Validations
Date logic
Each stage carries three operator-set dates —ETD, ETA, and Due date —
that the team enters as the work is planned, and that the Fitting list reads
back per stage.
ETD— the planned ship-out date for the stage’s physical sample. Set by the operator on the stage. The Fitting list shows the ETD on the stage’s cell.ETA— the planned arrival date for the stage’s physical sample. Set by the operator on the stage.Due date— the date the stage’s work is targeted to complete by. Set by the operator on the stage. The Fitting list flags a stage as overdue when the due date is in the past and the stage is neither approved nor rejected.Completed at— set by the platform when the stage’s status flips to approved (whether via “Complete”, “To Next Steps”, or a direct edit). Audit timestamp.
Status and transitions
The Fitting carries two independent lifecycles — one on the Fitting record itself and one on each of the seven stages.The Fitting record’s lifecycle
- Active — the Fitting is open and the stages are workable. A new Fitting starts here.
- Cancelled — the Fitting has been cancelled (the validation was abandoned). Edits to the stages are refused; the Fitting is hidden from the active Fitting list. Set via “Cancel sample” on the Fitting detail.
- Archived — the Fitting has been archived (kept on file, but no longer in active view). Edits are refused; the record stays accessible by direct link. Set via “Archive sample” on the Fitting detail.
- (created) → Active.
- Active → Cancelled: via “Cancel sample”.
- Active → Archived: via “Archive sample”.
A stage’s lifecycle
- Pending — the stage exists on the Fitting but the team has not started it yet. Every stage except Proto opens here.
- In progress — the team is actively working the stage. The Proto stage opens here on a new Fitting; another stage flips here when the prior stage’s “To Next Steps” advances onto it, or when the team manually sets it here.
- Approved — the stage has been signed off. Set via “Complete” (which leaves the Fitting on this stage) or “To Next Steps” (which approves this stage and moves the pointer to the next).
- Rejected — the stage has been rejected and needs a rework. The team records an approval comment on the same write. The stage stays workable for the rework; “To Next Steps” is refused from a rejected stage.
- (created) → Pending for stages 2–7; In progress for Proto.
- Pending → In progress: when the team starts working the stage.
- In progress → Approved: via “Complete” or “To Next Steps”.
- In progress → Rejected: via a status edit with an approval comment.
- Rejected → In progress: the team resumes the rework.
Order link). The approval
itself follows the same per-stage transition rules — Complete, Advance, or a
direct status edit — and fires the order phase advance in the same write.
Effect of changes
- Create a Fitting. A new Fitting opens with the seven stages auto-created — Proto as in progress, the other six as pending — with the sample-level status set to active and any style-master fields carried in from the picker.
- Edit a stage’s dates, comments, assignee, materials, or notes. The change saves to the stage. The Fitting list re-reads the affected cell on the next view.
- Edit a stage’s status directly. The platform updates the stage. If the
target status is rejected, an approval comment is required. If the
target status is approved and the stage is PP, and the Fitting
carries an
Orderlink to an order at production samples, the order’s work phase advances to bulk production in the same write. - Click “Complete” on a stage. The current stage moves to approved
and
Completed atis set. The Fitting’s current stage pointer does not move. If the stage is PP and the Fitting is order-linked, the order’s work-phase advance to bulk fires in the same write. - Click “To Next Steps” on a stage. The current stage moves to
approved,
Completed atis set, and the Fitting’s current stage pointer moves to the next stage in the spine — flipping it from pending to in progress. If the stage being approved is PP and the Fitting is order-linked, the order’s work-phase advance to bulk fires in the same write. The action is refused when the current stage is Bulk or rejected. - Upload a file to a stage category. The file is saved on the stage’s category as a new version. If a prior version with the same filename exists on the same category, the prior version is kept downloadable and the new upload becomes the current version that downstream surfaces (such as the MO content pull) read.
- Add a physical-sample shipment on a stage. The shipment row is saved on the stage with its ship-out date, tracking number, and contents. Multiple shipments can sit on the same stage.
- Add to a stage’s Comments thread. The new comment is appended to the per-stage thread. Bulk comment import accepts a list of entries from an uploaded file and creates one comment per entry; the manual add path takes a single free-text comment.
- Cancel the Fitting. The Fitting’s status flips to cancelled and the record drops out of the active Fitting list. Edits to the stages are refused from this point.
- Archive the Fitting. The Fitting’s status flips to archived and the record is hidden from active views. Edits are refused; the record stays on file.
- MO composed for the linked style. The MO reads the Fitting’s per-stage comments, current-version files across the four file categories, and per-stage fabric / trim selections into its rendered content. The MO is the consumer; the Fitting itself is unchanged.
Working a fitting — the validation walkthrough
The Fitting list opens with one row per Fitting. Each row shows the linked style’s identifiers (Style master No., customer-brand, season),
the Fitting’s Status, and the seven stages across the row as columns, each
carrying that stage’s ETD, ETA, and the stage’s Comments summary. Filter by
season, customer, stage, or status to focus on the work in front of you. A
pencil-edit icon on each stage cell opens the cell in place so you can edit
the stage’s ETD, ETA, and Comments without leaving the list.
The Fitting detail page lays the seven stages out as tabs across the top.
Selecting a stage opens the stage’s working area, with sub-tabs for the
stage’s SPEC, Comments, Fitting Photo, Grading, Review,
and Shipment work. Files uploaded on the category sub-tabs are kept by
filename: re-uploading the same filename writes a new version on the stage
and keeps the prior version downloadable. The Comments sub-tab carries a
per-stage comment thread distinct from the single-line Comments summary
shown on the Fitting list — you add to it by hand or by importing a list of
entries from a file. The Shipment sub-tab records the stage’s
physical-sample shipments, one row per sample sent out. The Review
sub-tab is the stage’s structured review record.
At the foot of each stage are two action buttons:
- Complete — marks the current stage approved without moving on. Used when the team wants to sign a stage off but isn’t ready to start the next.
- To Next Steps — approves the current stage and moves the Fitting on to the next stage in the spine, flipping that stage from pending to in progress.
Order link and the order is at the production
samples work phase, approving the PP stage automatically advances that
order’s work phase to bulk production — one signal, in one place,
without retyping anything on the order. When no order is linked, PP
approval is informational only.
When a manufacturing order is composed for
an order’s version of the linked style, the MO pulls the Fitting’s per-stage
comments, the current version of each file across the four categories, and
the per-stage fabric and trim selections into its rendered content — so the
factory builds against validated fitting information rather than an
untested design.
Linking a sample to an order
A sample carries an optional, one-at-a-time link to an order. The link is what makes the same per-style validation legible on the order it is being made for — the order’s Samples sub-tab and the Overview Sample Status card both read the lifecycle Sample by this link, and the PP stage approval fires the order’s work-phase advance only when the link is set (see Business rules). The link can be set from either side.The rules
A handful of plain rules govern the link. Hold them before you act.- A sample may sit with no order. Proto, development, and salesman
work belong on a sample that is style-anchored without an order link.
The Fitting still works, the stages still progress, and the order has
no claim on the sample. The
Orderfield is left blank. - A sample is on at most one order. The link is 1:1, optional: a sample is either unlinked or attached to a single order. There is no multi-order list and no copy step.
- Re-pointing the link moves the sample, with confirmation. Linking a sample that is already on a different order asks you to confirm, then moves the sample off the prior order onto the new one. The sample is not copied: the prior order loses it the moment the new order gains it. This is the rule readers most often guess wrong — there is no second sample and no shared sample.
- You can clear the link. Setting the sample’s
Orderfield back to blank unlinks it, returning the sample to the order-less state. The prior order’s Samples sub-tab and Sample Status card stop reading it from that point.
From the order — Link sample / New sample
The order’s Samples sub-tab is where the order team reaches for an existing sample or starts a new one against this order. Two actions sit at the top of the sub-tab:- “Link sample” — opens a dialog titled Link an existing sample
that lists your tenant’s lifecycle samples, defaulted to the order’s
customer, with a
Search samples…box and the candidate list underneath. Samples already on this order are excluded; samples on a different order are shown and, when picked, prompt the move confirmation above. The picker is searchable across the candidate list — there is no small-row cap. - “New sample” — opens the Fitting create form with this order
already pre-selected on the new sample’s
Orderfield. Save the form and the resulting sample is born linked to this order; cancel and no sample is created.
From the sample — the Order field
On the Fitting create form and the Fitting detail page, the sample’s
Order field is a searchable order picker. It searches your tenant’s
orders by order number and customer name (server-side), so the full
catalogue is reachable — not just a top-of-list slice. The same field
accepts the cleared state: choose ”—” or clear the value and save to
unlink the sample.
When you change a sample’s Order from one order to another, the same
1:1 move applies — the prior order’s Samples sub-tab stops reading
the sample on the next refresh, and the new order’s sub-tab starts.
There is no two-step “unlink then re-link” — the change is one save.
The legacy Order Samples ledger
Before the lifecycle Sample model, GarmentFlow ran a separate per-order Order Samples ledger that lived alongside Fitting. It is no longer the source the order detail reads — the order’s Samples sub-tab and the Overview Sample Status card both read the lifecycle Sample above — and the standalone Order Samples surface is hidden by default. Its route is still reachable, but only after an administrator turns its sidebar link back on. To re-enable the legacy surface, open the Sidebar layout card under Feature Settings, find Order samples in the list of toggleable items, tick it back on, and save. The link reappears in the left navigation; the standalone Order Samples page is where the legacy ledger lives. This is a per-tenant choice and is intended only as an escape hatch for tenants still running the older ledger — new sample-keeping work belongs on the lifecycle Sample / Fitting record above. What the legacy ledger records, for tenants who still use it: one row per sample of a specific type (Proto, Fit, Salesman, or PP) sent to the customer for an order’s style, with when it went, on what tracking, what the customer’s feedback was, and whether they approved it, asked for a revision, or sent the team back to rework. Each Order Sample carries its own Pending / Sent / Approved / Revision requested / Cancelled lifecycle with a per-row revision history. The legacy ledger is independent of the lifecycle Sample — nothing on a legacy Order Sample drives the order’s work phase or any downstream advance. If your tenant has the legacy surface turned off, no action is needed — the lifecycle Sample described above is the only path the order detail and the platform read.Best practices
- Open the Fitting against a style master. The Add-Sample form’s
Style master No.picker ties the Fitting to a real style record, so the per-style history, the MO content pull, and the readiness view all resolve correctly. The manual-entry option is for development cases where the style master is not yet created — switch the Fitting onto the master as soon as the style exists. - Link the Fitting to its order before you approve PP. The PP
approval’s work-phase advance only fires when the
Orderlink is set on the Fitting. Setting the link up front is what wires the validation signal through to the order on the day the approval lands. - Use Complete to sign a stage off, Advance to move on. Keeping the two actions separate lets you sign a stage off without pressuring the team into starting the next; use “To Next Steps” when the next stage’s work is genuinely ready to begin.
- Log every round on the stage that produced it. A stage stays workable for as many rounds as it needs — the file versions, comment thread, and shipment rows on the stage are the audit trail for how the validation actually went. Advance only when the stage is right.
- Re-upload changed files with the same filename. Versioning is by filename: keeping the filename stable across rounds is what builds the stage’s revision history. A new filename starts a fresh version chain on the same category.
- Cancel rather than try to delete. A Fitting that is no longer being worked is cancelled or archived from the detail page — cancelled to take it out of the active list, archived to keep it on file but out of view.
Sample identity and trim approval alongside the Fitting
Two records sit alongside the Fitting and the legacy Order Samples ledger for the physical-sample side of the work.- Product cards. When a sample is about to travel — to a fitting session, a factory visit, or a customer review — the team prints a to identify it. The card carries the order and style, the sample type, size, colour, and a short list of the materials the prototype is in, on a four-up A4 tag the team attaches to the sample. The card has no status and no downstream effect — it is the workspace’s record that the printed tag exists. The cards live on Product Cards; the PDF layout is set on Feature Settings → Product card PDF.
- Trim submissions. A separate record runs in parallel for trim approval — one per trim, colour, and intent, with the vendor, the approval round, the outcome, and the photos that travel with the swatch. Trim submissions live on Trim Submissions; they are the paper trail for trim approval and do not gate the bulk trim purchase order.
Related pages
- Style — the per-style record the Fitting validates.
- Order — the order whose linked Fitting drives the bulk-production phase advance.
- Order lifecycle — the canonical reference for the order’s work phase and the PP-approval trigger.
- Style vs. order vs. MO — how the Fitting fits into the wider style → order → MO chain.
- POM Library — the workspace’s catalog of measurement points the per-stage grading tables draw from.
- Product Cards — the printed four-up A4 sample tag that identifies a physical sample as it travels.
- Trim Submissions — the paper trail for trim approval that runs alongside garment sampling.
- The style-centric model