Every step has an owner. The factory sits on the left, the buyer on the right, and the
shared touchpoints — where both managers watch the same status — run down the middle. The truth
zig-zags between the lanes as the order moves. Both sides confirm, a rejection restarts the chain
by itself, and each side sees only what it should.
▶ 60-second tour prefer to watch?
Today: a factory keeps a different follow-up sheet —
a different format — for every buyer, by hand, and staffs a whole team just to keep them all
alive. Here: one shared, verified sheet, and each buyer reads it their own way
(live, or by export in their format). Two or three merchandisers instead of a floor of them — and far
less to miscommunicate.
TB
Follow-Up Sheet
Zig-zag ownership · development → ship
PO #AV-4417 · Crew tee · 42,000 pcs
Meridian Basics (buyer) ⇄ Meghna Knit (factory)
required ex-factory 26 Oct 2026
You are
Sheet
Configured per deal by both managers:— milestones— internal sign-offs— buyer sign-offsprocesses & visibility are set at kick-off
◧ Factory · internal◪ Touchpoint · shared◨ Buyer · externalleft / centre / right = who owns it; the truth zig-zags as the order moves.
Order timeline
Project health
Two-track project management — same order
Each side runs its own internal board — tasks, owners, deadlines, statuses, its own
nominated team — visible only to that side. Only what belongs in the shared middle lane ever crosses.
This is the private track behind the zig-zag. The factory's own track is the TB Planner — line
plan, T&A, line balancing — which can run standalone or embedded here as the factory side; from cutting
on it both runs the floor and feeds the shared touchpoints (two birds, one stone). (Switch roles to
see each side's own board; the other side's stays locked.)
Where the data lives — 3-party custody
Factory data · leftstays on the factory's own side.
Shared touchpoints · middlethe grey lane only — custodied by TBTS.
Buyer data · rightstays on the buyer's own side.
Business secrets never pool in one place.
Livereal-time
The shared middle lane syncs both ways in real time.
Export / importair-gapped
Where a live link isn't allowed, each side releases only the approved fields.
Hosting: client's call, under NDA. Integration: CSV or API. Provable deletion: crypto-shredded with a signed certificate.
✓ Why this can be shared safely — and can’t be doctored
The old follow-up sheet was filled in by one side and quietly massaged.
Zig-zag Follow-Up Sheet — working demo · illustrative data · clean-room build (TB Digitalisation)— A.K. · TB · Slovenia, EU
Sample data — a demonstration, not a real account.