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Placing and Managing Orders

The Orders page is where you select meals for your customers for the coming week. Think of it as filling in a meal form for everyone in your care — one page, one week, all customers at once.

Who places orders?​

In most settings, a unit manager or administrator places orders on behalf of all customers in an order unit (for example, all residents on a floor or all employees in a department).

Customers can also place their own orders if they have access to the customer portal.

Some organizations allow both — the unit manager places a base order, and customers can add or change individual meals.

The order workflow​

Step 1: Access the order page

  • Go to Orders in the main menu
  • You will see a list of weeks available for ordering

Step 2: Select the week and order unit

  • Choose the week you are ordering for
  • Choose the order unit (the group of customers you are managing)
  • The page shows a table: rows are customers, columns are days of the week

Step 3: Select meals

  • Click any meal slot (intersection of customer row and day column)
  • A list of available meals appears (from the published menu for that week)
  • Click a meal to select it
  • The slot updates immediately with the meal name and price
  • Repeat for all customers and days

Step 4: Review special notes

  • The system shows any customer notes or dietary reminders
  • Check for allergies, restrictions, or special requests before finalizing

Step 5: Submit the order

  • When you have selected meals for all customers, click Send order
  • This submits the selections to the kitchen and confirms the order in the system

Features on the order page​

Scrolling and totals:

  • Scroll left/right to see all days of the week
  • You can see running totals per customer and per day
  • The total cost is calculated automatically

Customer flags:

  • If a customer has dietary restrictions or allergens registered, a coloured badge appears next to their name as a reminder
  • Click the badge to see the full list of restrictions
  • Always check these before selecting meals

Bulk actions:

  • Some systems allow you to select the same meal for multiple customers at once
  • This saves time for large groups

Special meal options:

  • Some meals may have variations (e.g., "Chicken" or "Vegetarian version")
  • The order page will show these options if available

Order deadlines​

There is usually a deadline for placing orders — for example:

  • Orders for Monday–Friday must be placed by Friday noon
  • Orders for the next week must be placed by Wednesday 5 PM

The system will show:

  • A countdown timer showing time remaining
  • A warning message if you are ordering past the deadline
  • Sometimes orders placed late cannot be submitted

Ask your administrator about your organization's order deadline.

Changing an order after sending​

If you need to make a change after submitting:

  1. Go back to Orders
  2. Select the same week and order unit
  3. Find the customer and day
  4. Click the meal to change it
  5. Select a different meal or remove it
  6. Click Send order again
  7. The kitchen will receive the updated version
warning

Some organizations have a "no changes after deadline" rule. Check if changes are allowed before attempting to modify a submitted order.

Viewing order status​

Once an order is sent, you can track its status:

  • Pending — Order received, not yet confirmed by kitchen
  • Confirmed — Kitchen has confirmed they can provide the meals
  • Prepared — Meals are being cooked
  • Ready — Meals are cooked and packaged
  • In Transit — Being delivered to the customer
  • Delivered — Customer has received the meals

Bulk ordering and templates​

If your group orders the same meals week after week:

  1. Complete one week's order as normal
  2. Click Save as template (if available)
  3. Next week, load the template and make any adjustments
  4. Submit the order

This saves time on repetitive ordering.

Reports about orders​

You can generate reports showing:

  • How many orders were placed (by week, unit, or customer)
  • Total orders per meal
  • Orders by dietary type
  • Order value / revenue

See the Reports section for more details.