Order Capture, Production Planning and Digital Workflow Development -z12233

Business Overview
Company currently manages orders through paper notes, emails, phone calls and informal knowledge held by the Managing Director. As demand increases and operations grow more complex, the business requires a structured, digital method to capture customer orders, plan production activities and track work-in-progress. This includes the ability to record sub-steps such as 3D printing, machining and composite lay-up, and to link data with other digital initiatives such as the future parts repository and existing finance system (Sage). The internship will focus on building a simple but scalable digital workflow that improves visibility, reduces manual handling and supports future adoption of lightweight MRP or scheduling systems.

Projects Goals and Objectives

Specific objectives are to:

• Digitise the order capture process using Trello or a similar visual workflow tool.
• Develop a lightweight, centralised database to store order details, production requirements and job status.
• Create a digital scheduling board to show capacity, bottlenecks and dependencies. Introduce a simple shop floor data collection method for tracking job progress.
• Capture sub-steps such as 3D printing, machining and composite operations.
• Establish a documented process for linking order data with Sage (manual, semi-automated or through standard exports). 
  Explore lightweight MRP tools and provide recommendations. 
  Prepare for integration with the upcoming digital parts repository. 

Intern Skills Required

 The intern will have: 

• Strong organisational and analytical skills. Familiarity with digital workflow tools (e.g., Trello, Airtable, Notion) or willingness to learn.
• Interest in manufacturing workflow design and production processes.
• Basic data handling or dashboarding skills (Excel, Google Sheets, or Power BI).
• Ability to document processes clearly. Expected Outcomes and Success Metrics 

Intern Roles and Responsibilities

The intern will:

• Build a structured Trello (or similar) board reflecting key stages from order intake to despatch.
• Create custom fields for customer details, part numbers, due dates, materials and sub-processes.
• Design automation rules for reminders, movement of cards or notifications.
• Evaluate other options if richer database functions are needed.
• Production Planning and Scheduling The intern will: Develop a clear scheduling board showing work-in-progress, estimated lead times and capacity.
• Create fields or tags to capture required pre-production steps such as printing or tooling.
• Prototype simple capacity planning views (e.g., workload per week, per process).
• Identify where lightweight MRP tools could add value and prepare a recommendation comparison.
• Shop Floor Data Collection The intern will: Design a simple method for staff to update job status (tablet form, QR code, barcode, or app-based updates).
• Capture timestamps, process steps and completion data. Produce a basic dashboard summarising job progress, throughput and bottlenecks.
• Linking with Sage and Future Systems The intern will: Document how order data can be shared with Sage.
• Produce a workflow for linking jobs to digital part files when the repository is operational.
• Identify where future integration could automate additional tasks.