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Materials Order from Weekly Jobs

Example prompt: "Every Tuesday at 2pm, look at every job in my 'Jobs' Google Calendar for the following Monday to Saturday. For each job, read the description and the linked job-card row in our 'Jobs' Google Sheet to work out the materials needed — pipe sizes, fittings, fixings, sundries, anything specific. Cross-check against our 'Van Stock' tab to subtract what is already on the van, and against our 'Standing Orders' tab to skip anything on a scheduled delivery. Group the remaining items by preferred supplier from the 'Suppliers' tab. Draft an email in Gmail to each supplier with the order list, the collection-or-delivery preference, and the day we need it for, leaving each one as a draft. Build a one-page picking list as a Google Doc in our 'Materials' Drive folder for the van. Post a summary in #materials on Slack with the supplier count, a rough running total, and links to every draft so I can review before sending."

The Problem

Tuesday afternoon is admin afternoon. We sit down with next week's job sheet, scribble through what each job needs, then ring round the merchants. Half the time we forget the awkward fitting, end up back at Selco on the Wednesday morning, and lose an hour we did not have. The bigger jobs are worse — six suppliers, three delivery slots, and the apprentice asking which van the copper went on. The order list is not hard work; it is fiddly work, the sort that gets bumped to the evening and then to the morning of the job.

How GloriaMundo Solves It

We build a workflow that runs every Tuesday at 2pm. An integration step pulls the next week of jobs from Google Calendar. An LLM step reads each job description and the linked job-card row in our Google Sheet, and lists the materials each one needs. A code step subtracts what is already on the van from a stock tab and skips anything on a standing order, then groups the remainder by preferred supplier. Another LLM step drafts a clear order email to each supplier with quantities, the day we need it for, and the collection or delivery preference. An integration step builds a single picking list as a Google Doc for the van, and posts the batch in Slack so we can review every draft before they send. Glass Box preview shows the lists and the emails working before anything goes out.

Example Workflow Steps

  1. Trigger (scheduled): Every Tuesday at 2pm.
  2. Step 1 (integration): Pull jobs from the 'Jobs' Google Calendar for next Monday to Saturday.
  3. Step 2 (llm): For each job, read the description and the linked row in the 'Jobs' Google Sheet, and produce a structured materials list.
  4. Step 3 (code): Subtract van stock from the 'Van Stock' tab and skip items on the 'Standing Orders' tab; group the rest by preferred supplier from the 'Suppliers' tab.
  5. Step 4 (llm): Draft a supplier-specific order email for each merchant, with quantities, collection-or-delivery preference, and the day required.
  6. Step 5 (integration): Save each draft email in Gmail.
  7. Step 6 (integration): Build a one-page picking list in Google Docs and save it to the 'Materials' Drive folder.
  8. Step 7 (integration): Post a summary in #materials on Slack with the supplier count, a rough running total, and links to every draft.

Integrations Used

  • Google Calendar — the source of next week's jobs
  • Google Sheets — the job-card detail, van stock register, standing orders, and supplier preferences
  • Google Docs — the consolidated picking list for the van
  • Google Drive — the 'Materials' folder where picking lists live
  • Gmail — holds the per-supplier order drafts for review
  • Slack — the review and approval channel

Who This Is For

Plumbing, heating, and electrical firms with two to ten engineers, where one person plans the week's jobs and runs the merchant orders, and where forgotten parts mean a second trip to the merchant or a job overrunning. Useful for builders running multiple small jobs in parallel where each one has its own materials list.

Time & Cost Saved

Working through next week's jobs and ringing the merchants takes a careful hour and a half, and the missed-fitting trip the next morning is another hour or two of van time and a margin nibbled at retail prices. This workflow turns the Tuesday admin into a fifteen-minute review of the drafts and the picking list, and the van turns up with the awkward fitting because the prompt asked. The bigger win is the engineer not being sent back to the merchant on a Wednesday.