Critical path & projects
One missed date moves all the others.
Design sign-off, fabric approval, sample, fit, costing, PO, production, shipping, each resting on the last. The Critical Path View shows which slip costs the drop.
Slips surface a fortnight late.
The tracker is a spreadsheet updated on Fridays. Fabric approval misses, sample and fit follow, and the PO is behind before anyone writes it down.
A mid-market retailer runs 10+ systems and 50+ spreadsheets before merchmix.
Stages pass their delays forward.
Eight milestones, first sign-off to ship date, each with a dependency and a duration.
01
Design sign-off
02
Fabric approval
03
Sample
04
Fit
05
Costing
06
PO
07
Production
08
Shipping
Ridgeline Rain Jacket · Moss
Lateness shows while it is still small.
The Critical Path View carries a miss forward and marks where the slack ends. Refresh, and the path recomputes.
01
Fabric approval misses its date.
02
Sample and fit move with it.
03
Costing's slack absorbs part of it.
04
The PO turns critical: no slack left.
05
You refresh; the ship date shows at risk.
5 entries make a path.
Milestones, dependencies, durations, a review of earliest and latest, then the refresh.
Create milestones for samples, approvals and delivery.
Add dependencies and expected durations.
Review earliest, latest and slack.
Identify critical or at-risk activities.
Refresh as dates change.
SMP-0412 · Ridgeline Rain Jacket · Moss
| Point of measure | Spec | Tolerance | Measured | Variance | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chest width | 58.0 | ±1.0 | 58.4 | +0.4 | Within |
| Back length | 74.0 | ±1.0 | 74.6 | +0.6 | Within |
| Sleeve length | 63.5 | ±0.8 | 64.9 | +1.4 | Out |
| Shoulder | 46.0 | ±0.5 | 46.2 | +0.2 | Within |
| Hem sweep | 62.0 | ±1.5 | 61.1 | −0.9 | Within |
Milestone templates and named owners per milestone: UNCONFIRMED.
yukti stays out of the calendar.
Milestones and slips are yours to decide. The one adjacent action is the purchase order, which the agent raises once the date is fixed.
forge keeps the dates, beacon the deliveries.
Sample requests and approvals put milestones on the calendar; the PO reaches the supplier portal; the style lives on the product record.
Questions, answered.
What happens when a date moves?
Refresh; dependencies carry the change forward and the view shows what is now critical or at risk.
Where do the milestones come from?
Sample requests, approvals and delivery, in the Development Calendar with dependencies and durations.
Is this a general project tool?
No. It is the dated sequence a product moves through to make its drop.
How long until our calendar is in it?
Live in 12 to 15 weeks, end to end. A free 6-week POC on your own data, no contract, comes first.
A trial first; the contract comes later.
A 1-hour demo with sales and product, then 6 free weeks on your data.