01
Open the job once
Carry the accepted quote, customer details, dimensions, substrate and delivery or fitting date into one job record.
Sign makers · Graphics workshops · Installation teams
Know where every sign job stands
Keep the agreed specification, approved artwork, production stage and fitting details together. The office can answer a customer without interrupting the workshop, and the workshop can see what is ready to make.
Fixed scopeQuoted before work starts
Human controlDecisions stay with your team
Honest boundaryKeep existing systems where they work
Where the time goes
A sign job can be waiting on artwork, a site measurement, material or a fitting date. A spreadsheet marked “in progress” hides all four. When the approved proof is in one inbox and the job sheet is on a bench, people lose time checking whether they can safely start.
How the system works
The scope follows your existing work. These are the stages we would review together.
02
Track artwork approval
Keep proof versions and the customer’s recorded approval together. A changed proof returns to approval; silence never releases a job.
03
Show what blocks production
Display jobs waiting for material, measurements or approval separately from jobs ready to cut, print or fabricate.
04
Record workshop progress
Staff move work through the stages your shop uses. The board reflects recorded updates, with an owner and a time, rather than guessed completion.
05
Prepare the installation
Give the fitting team the approved job details, address and access notes. Site photos and completion evidence return to the same record.
06
Close the commercial loop
Show completed jobs ready for invoice review. Snags and partial installations remain visible so an unfinished job does not quietly disappear.
An example to make it concrete
Illustrative workflow: a fascia job is approved, but the customer later changes the wording. The new proof is marked awaiting approval and the previous production release is held for review. Once approved, the workshop sees the chosen file and the fitting team receives the updated job pack. A recorded snag leaves a next action for the office.
Working with your existing software
A working print MIS, design package or accounts system can stay. We check where customer details, artwork and invoices belong and use supported imports or APIs where available. The tracker links to design files; it does not become a design application or RIP.
AI can help with extracting or finding information where it earns its place. Records, calculations and approval rules use ordinary software where that is the dependable choice.
Starting point and price
Start with one job route from accepted quote to production-ready job sheet. Agree the stages, approval evidence and who can release work. Installation capture, stock control and accounts connections can follow as separately quoted work.
Fixed-scope builds start from £1,495, with the actual deliverables and price agreed in writing. If the workflow needs measuring first, the Operations Audit is £895. Hosting, support, licences and any additional work are set out in the quote. See pricing and what is included.
Is a bespoke system worth it?
A good fit
Useful for a sign business whose work crosses sales, artwork, production and installation, especially when the same status questions interrupt several people each day.
When we would suggest something else
If your current MIS already provides a usable job board and proof approval, start by fixing its setup or staff process. A second tracker that nobody updates adds another place to check.
Can fitters use it away from the workshop?
Yes, a field component can be scoped for phones or tablets. If it must work without signal, we agree which job details are stored on the device, what can be edited and how changes are checked when it reconnects.
BEL Signs: 18 years on one system, then WORMS 2
BEL Signs, a Sussex sign maker, ran its quotes, works orders and job sheets on WORMS, a system built for them in 2008, every working day for 18 years. In 2026 we rebuilt it as WORMS 2 without changing the way the workshop works, and brought every record across: 22,639 quotes, 32,918 jobs and 7,021 customers. Read the full case study.
What WORMS 2 does for the workshop
An accepted quote becomes a job without retyping. A stage tracker shows owners, handovers and blockers through to collection, delivery or installation, with a calendar of jobs due. The shop floor gets complete job sheets without prices, and an incomplete sheet can’t be sent through.
What ownership meant here
WORMS ran for 18 years with no fee simply to keep it switched on. BEL decided when it was time to modernise, rather than having replacement forced on it by the end of a payment arrangement. They own the code, and their own admins now manage users, roles and custom fields.
Start with the actual job
What was quoted? Which details reached the workshop? What did the office need before invoicing? Those questions reveal more than a list of desired screens.
Make the handover real
Our current business-system work includes source code, documentation and a written exit so another engineer can take over.
Keep useful software
A system that still does its job may need a small improvement rather than replacement. Age alone is not a reason to start again. If yours is an old Access database, see legacy database replacement.
A long working life is evidence of continued usefulness, not a promise that another system will last a particular number of years. The job-tracking workflow above is illustrative; tablet capture, offline updates and accounts connections are requirements we would assess for a new project, not features we claim for WORMS 2.
Related workflows
Built and supported locally
Based in Horsham, we work on site across Sussex and Surrey. Explore the practical starting points for businesses in Horsham, Brighton and Hove.
Bring a recent job that needed too much chasing.
The first fifteen minutes are free. We will look at the work, explain the options and agree whether a small first project makes sense.
If the honest answer is that the process needs the system rebuilt rather than one step automated, that is a bespoke business system built around your work.