Print shops
Proofs and reorders CRM for a print shop
5-person print shop, Metro Vancouver
A 5-person print shop was losing time on proof rounds and reorder quotes. We built a custom CRM with a proof approval flow, a job status board, and a reorder tool that pulls the specs from the last job.
Anonymized. Real project shape and outcome ranges, identifying details changed to protect client confidentiality.
Headline numbers
What changed
Reorder quote time
~15 min → ~2 min
Proof round-trips
Down about 40%
Missed 'ready for pickup'
Effectively zero
Build time
7 weeks to launch
The problem
Where they were stuck
Proofs lived in email threads with no version history.
Reorder quotes took 15 minutes because the specs were in another job's file.
The job board was a whiteboard that only the shop floor could see.
'Is my order ready?' calls piled up on the counter.
The approach
What we built and why
- 1
Structured quote intake and per-job proof gallery with versions.
- 2
One-click reorder that pre-fills the specs and pricing.
- 3
Job status board visible in the office, at the press, and on the customer portal.
- 4
Automatic 'ready for pickup' texts.
The result
What it actually did
Reorder quotes now go out in about 2 minutes.
Proof round-trips dropped about 40% because approvals happen in the portal.
'Ready for pickup' texts go out on their own, no missed pickups.
The counter stopped answering 'is it ready?' calls all day.
Under the hood
What it's built on
Stack & shape
- Web app plus a customer portal
- Postgres database, owned by the client
- Twilio for SMS status updates
- Stripe for deposits and payments