Creating a Template

Before You Start

Identify the product family you want to template. List the material types, labour steps, and machines that are common across all products in that family. You will enter placeholder quantities — these are defaults that get adjusted when the template is applied to a real product, so they do not need to be exact.

Creating the Template

1. In the main navigation, click Templates.
2. Click Create Template.
3. Enter a descriptive Name. Be specific: "Soy Candle Base — Jar" is more useful than "Candle Template".
4. Add an optional Description noting the product family this template covers.
5. Click Save to create the template. You can now add line items.

Adding Materials

1. Open the template, go to the Materials tab, and click Add Material.
2. Search for the material and select it.
3. Enter a default quantity. For a candle template you might enter 200g of soy wax as the default, knowing that some products will use 150g and others 250g.
4. Repeat for each material type that appears in this product family.

Adding Labour

1. Go to the Labour tab and click Add Labour Entry.
2. Select the labour type and enter a default time in minutes.
3. Repeat for each labour step (e.g., pouring, labelling, quality check).

Adding Machines

1. Go to the Machines tab and click Add Machine Time.
2. Select the machine and enter a default run time.

Saving the Template

Click Save. The template is now available to apply when creating a new product.

Tip: One Template per Product Family

Resist the temptation to create one universal template. A focused template with accurate defaults speeds up product creation much more than a generic one you have to heavily edit every time. Recommended approach:

• "Soy Candle Base — Jar" (jar candles)
• "Soy Candle Base — Tin" (tin candles)
• "Pillar Candle Base" (freestanding pillars)
• "Tealight Base" (tealights in aluminium cups)

Each template takes 5 minutes to set up and saves that time on every product you create from it.

Editing and Deleting Templates

You can edit a template at any time. Editing a template does not change any products already created from it — the link is broken at the moment of application. You can also delete a template that is no longer useful; this does not affect any products.