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Every piece that comes through your shop — a cherished photo, a diploma, or original art — carries meaning. Customers trust you to preserve it with care and deliver it on time – usually between two to four weeks. But if turnaround drags, your reputation suffers. Rush the job, and you risk damaging the piece and customer trust.
You need technology and strategies that increase your shop’s custom framing turnaround time without sacrificing quality. That usually means strong workflows, clear intake processes, and a team that always knows what’s due next.
Discover seven ways to speed up your custom framing orders, so you can take on more work while delivering every piece with the same level of care.
1. Use a POS System Built for Framing
Generic point of sale (POS) systems might work for retail, but custom framing requires more than barcode scanning and checkout screens. To increase your custom framing turnaround times, you need a tool designed for the full framing workflow — from intake to pickup.
Look for a POS system that can:
- Build detailed work orders with specs, materials, and mounting notes
- Upload artwork photos to keep visual references on file
- Track order status and deadlines in real time
- Flag missing materials or pending approvals before they slow production
- Sync with inventory so you can quote accurate custom framing turnaround times
Industry-specific software keeps everyone on the same page, reduces delays, and gives your team more time to focus on the work.
2. Create Standard Intake Checklists
Standardized checklists keep orders accurate from the beginning. Instead of relying on memory, use printed or digital forms to gather every detail during the initial consultation. Clear intake reduces delays, eliminates guesswork, and helps the team stay focused on production.
Design work order forms with categories that let you:
- Confirm moulding, matboard, glazing, and backing choices
- Clarify the mounting method and orientation
- Record the exact dimensions and fit requirements
- Note customer preferences and due date
When every order starts with the same process, you catch missing details early and keep projects on schedule.
3. Prestock High-Turn Materials
Custom framing turnaround times can slow down when essential items aren’t in stock. Keeping high-turn materials — like go-to black gallery frames, popular white mats, or UV-protective glass — on hand lets you start builds immediately.
Focus your supply strategy on speed:
- Track best-selling materials in your POS system to know what to keep on hand.
- Set low-stock alerts or automatic reorders to avoid last-minute gaps.
- Monitor vendor lead times so you can plan around slow shipments.
- Prioritize suppliers who ship quickly and reliably.
With the right materials ready to go, your team can move straight from intake to production.
4. Batch Similar Orders
Switching between one-off projects slows production — tools get swapped, materials reshuffled, and workstations reset. Grouping similar jobs keeps the flow steady and reduces backtracking.
Use your POS system to organize tasks with shared steps:
- Frame pieces using the same moulding profile in one run to speed up cutting and joining.
- Mat and mount jobs together to keep board handling efficient and cleanup minimal.
- Precut standard sizes in batches to maximize table space and tool use.
- Plan a workaround equipment setup so machines stay running without repeated resets.
Batching like this keeps framing service production moving with fewer delays and more consistency.
5. Assign Daily Roles and Priorities
Every custom framing order moves through several hands or stages; without clear roles, steps get missed and deadlines slip. Whether it’s a rush job or a complex shadowbox, one delay in mounting, fitting, or assembly can mean a late delivery.
Track order progress through your POS dashboard to:
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List who’s handling each order step — fitting, mounting, cutting, joining, finishing.
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Highlight rush orders or due-today jobs so nothing falls behind.
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Mark blockers like missing materials or customer sign-offs.
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Review progress each morning to reassign tasks if needed.
Even small framing teams work faster with defined daily roles. It prevents overlap, avoids delays, and keeps the focus on high-priority jobs.
6. Give Customers Accurate Turnaround Time Estimates
In a creative business, it’s easy to say yes too quickly. The customer’s excited, you want the sale, and suddenly you’ve promised a deadline that’s too tight. Midway through, you’re either rushing the job, delaying others, or walking back on what you said.
Protect your schedule and reputation by quoting timeframes based on real capacity:
- Factor in current workload, vendor lead times, and staff availability.
- Confirm materials are in stock before promising a date.
- Outline rush order options with set fees, completion windows, and qualifying job types.
- Build in buffer time for unexpected issues like damaged moulding or equipment maintenance.
Framing-specific POS tools help you stay on top of inventory, get real-time pricing and availability from vendors, and track active work orders with customer notes — so you can quote accurately and deliver on time.
7. Automate Status Updates and Pickups
Manually calling customers when orders are ready takes time and often leads to missed connections. If the call doesn’t go through, someone has to follow up later, which can delay pickup, take up storage space, and frustrate the customer. Automated updates keep people informed without distracting your staff.
Set your POS to send alerts when jobs reach important stages:
- Notify customers when framing is complete to reinforce reliability and encourage faster pickups.
- Send reminders for uncollected orders to clear space in the shop.
- Confirm dropoff appointments or delivery windows when needed.
- Customize messages with thank yous, pickup instructions, or store hours.
This small automation reduces interruptions and keeps your workflow focused for better custom framing turnaround times.
Speed Up Your Custom Framing Turnaround Time
Improving custom framing turnaround time means creating consistent and reliable processes, from taking orders to arranging pickups. With an organized system, you can reduce delays, avoid rework, and keep your team and customers happy.
LifeSaver is built to support faster, smoother production. It converts quotes into synced work orders to prevent manual mistakes, updates vendor pricing and availability in real time, and flags workflow slowdowns through built-in reporting.
You can also send automated customer updates as orders progress, so pickups happen sooner without added phone calls.
Need tools that support faster framing? Start your free 14-day trial and see how LifeSaver helps you finish more orders on time — without compromising quality.
