Free Manufacturing Work Order Template
Track what to produce, by when, and at what priority — download and fill in for your own production runs.
Download Free Work Order TemplateCSV format — opens directly in Excel, Google Sheets, or Numbers. No signup.
What's in the template
- work_order_number
- Unique identifier for the production run
- product_sku / product_name
- What is being produced
- quantity
- How many units this run should produce
- due_date
- When the finished units are needed
- priority
- High, Normal, or Low, to sequence the shop floor
- assigned_to
- Who or which line is running the order
- bom_reference
- Which bill of materials/recipe to pull from
- status
- Not Started, In Progress, or Complete
- notes
- Anything the floor needs to know about this run
How to use it
- Download the template and open it in Excel or Google Sheets.
- The file ships with three example rows (gummy candy and bakery runs, matching the BOM template's example products) — delete them once you understand the format, or keep them as a reference.
- Give every new production run its own work_order_number, and fill in product_sku, product_name, and quantity for what that run should produce.
- Set due_date and priority so the shop floor knows what to run next, and reference the correct bom_reference so the right recipe gets pulled.
- Update the status column by hand as the run moves from Not Started to In Progress to Complete.
The limits of a spreadsheet work order
A spreadsheet work order documents intent — what to produce, by when, at what priority — but it doesn't do anything after that. There's no automatic check that the materials list actually has enough raw material on hand to complete the run, no record of what was actually consumed versus planned, and no live status the rest of the team can see without opening the file. See production tracking for what a system that updates itself as runs progress looks like, and the batch yield calculator to see what a run actually cost once scrap is accounted for.
When you outgrow this template
The column shape here — SKU, quantity, due date, BOM reference, status — is deliberately import-friendly: it maps cleanly onto what production tracking software expects. Nstock can import this exact CSV directly to seed your production runs, and from there each run automatically consumes the referenced BOM's components, tracks work-in-progress, and rolls actual cost up into the finished good. See the BOM template for the recipe side of this workflow, or bill of materials explained for the fundamentals.
Frequently asked questions
How do I use this work order template in Excel or Google Sheets?
Download the CSV file, then open it directly in Excel or Google Sheets — CSV opens natively in both, no conversion needed. Each row is one work order for one product run, so give every new run its own work_order_number. Update the status column as the run moves from Not Started to In Progress to Complete, and add rows as new orders are scheduled.
What's the difference between a work order and a bill of materials?
A bill of materials (BOM) is a recipe — it defines what components and quantities go into one unit of a finished product, and it doesn't change run to run. A work order is an instruction to actually produce some quantity of that product by a certain date, referencing the BOM rather than repeating it. One BOM can be referenced by many work orders over time. See Nstock's BOM template (linked below, under Templates) if you don't have that recipe documented yet — this template's bom_reference column expects one.
Can this template track work order progress automatically?
No. This is a static document — you update the status column by hand, and it won't tell you whether a run is behind schedule, how much material it actually consumed, or whether the materials list has enough stock to complete it. That kind of live tracking needs a system that updates as production events happen, not a spreadsheet edited manually.
Is this work order template really free?
Yes. The template is free to download and use with no signup, account, or watermark.
Ready for work orders that track themselves?
Nstock imports this CSV directly and ties every production run to its BOM automatically, so material consumption, WIP, and finished-goods cost update as the run happens instead of waiting on a manual status update.