How MakerDesk is organized

Understand the records and who owns each decision

MakerDesk stays understandable by separating identity, catalog, supply, production execution, and fulfillment while preserving links between them.

8 minute guide Everyone using MakerDesk

After this guide

You know which page to update and can avoid duplicating the same decision in several places.

1. Account and operating ownership

Identity and operational structure are related, but they are not the same record.

1
Account
The sign-in and security boundary. An account contains the user identity used for audit history and approvals.
2
User
The person operating MakerDesk. The user has a role in one organization.
3
Organization
The business owner of many workshops and stores. Organization settings describe this shared operating context.
4
Workshop and store
A workshop is where inventory and production work happen. A store or channel is where customer demand originates.

Separate the thing customers recognize from the instructions used to make it.

1
Product
The catalog identity: name, category, description, image, and selling structure.
2
Sellable item
The SKU-level record with price, stock behavior, source, and fulfillment defaults. A product may have one or many sellable items.
3
Recipe family
The continuing production method associated with an output. It can have several immutable versions.
4
Recipe version and policy role
A specific set of material quantities, tool usage, and quality evidence. Default is preferred; Fallback is approved when the default cannot run; Reference preserves learning without driving normal production.

Production readiness depends on consumable quantities and time-bound equipment availability.

1
Material
A consumable input with a unit, quantity, cost, location, supplier, reorder policy, and optional lot tracking.
2
Tool
A reusable item required by a recipe, such as a mold, press, engraver, or fixture.
3
Production resource
The capacity view of a station, person, or tool across scheduled work. Tools define what exists; Resource capacity shows when it is available.
4
Readiness
A product can be sellable while still missing a recipe, materials, packaging, or channel setup. Readiness makes those gaps visible.

The lifecycle is linked so customer intent reaches the floor without turning every order into a build.

1
Order
Customer demand from a store, marketplace, website, or manual entry. Each line receives its own supply decision.
2
Supply decision
Reserve finished stock, build in-house, purchase to stock, or direct ship from an approved supplier.
3
Build
An approved in-house work order with a locked recipe version, required materials, reserved tools, progress, and quality checks.
4
Fulfillment
The customer handoff: take now, pickup later, or ship. It begins after every order line has a valid supply path.

Change the order when the supply decision changes. Change the build when production progress changes. Change inventory when physical stock changes.

Improve a recipe by creating a new version. Do not rewrite the recipe that an existing build already locked.

Getting started

Learn the navigation, establish the minimum catalog and inventory records, then turn customer demand into an operational decision.