Custom upholstery / made-to-order workflow?

Made-to-order upholstery is the highest-margin furniture segment but the most operationally complex. Magento + a production-management extension handles it.

Order capture: the configurator stores every customer choice (frame, fabric SKU, fabric direction, contrast piping, leg style, leg finish, cushion fill, etc.) as line-item options on the Magento order. The order is “locked” once placed, changes require a phone call to support to reissue.

Production routing: custom Magento extension or workflow tags the order with production stage (cut → sew → upholster → QC → ship). Each stage has an SLA (e.g. cut by day 7, sew by day 14, ship by day 56). Production team marks each stage complete via admin or a barcode-scanner app; the customer sees the progress bar update.

Material allocation: fabric is reserved against the order at checkout (Magento MSI reservation) so the production team knows the yardage is dedicated. Backorder triggers a customer email + ETA update if the fabric runs out.

Quality control: the QC step uploads photos before shipping (so the customer sees the actual piece), cuts post-delivery dispute rate ~50% in the brands I’ve worked with.

Shipping: custom upholstery typically ships LTL with a pre-scheduled white-glove window. The carrier’s appointment scheduler (or a manual call from the brand’s ops team) confirms the date. No surprise deliveries.

Cancellation policy: most brands lock the order at “materials cut” (typically day 5-7). Before cut: full refund. After cut: store credit only or 25% restocking. Communicated upfront on PDP + at checkout.