In this guide 6 sections
Bring the schedule in as rows and match each line by wattage, CCT, beam angle and cut-out. Price it room by room and keep every revision. Carry the CCT onto the picking list and challan. GullySystem sets this up for lighting stores that handle project work alongside the counter.
Read the schedule as rows, not as a document
An architect’s lighting schedule lists fixture type, quantity, CCT, CRI and beam angle, room by room. Some run to ninety lines. Treat each line as a row with its own fields, not as text to read and retype.
Excel schedules split into rows easily. PDFs usually need checking line by line. Either way, a person confirms each row before it is priced.
Match by specification, not by product name
The same downlight comes in several wattages, colour temperatures and cut-out sizes. Matching by name alone invites the wrong variant. Match on the fields that decide how the room will look.
Your catalogue has to hold those fields first. If wattage, CCT and beam angle live only on the carton, the match falls back to memory. Photographs help with fittings that look alike on a shelf.
- Wattage and colour temperature
- CRI and beam angle
- Cut-out size and finish
- IP rating for wet areas
- The driver the fitting needs
Price room by room and keep each revision
Price the quotation in the same room order the architect used. The site team and the client then read it against their own drawing. Lead times sit beside imported and branded lines, so nobody promises a date the supplier cannot meet.
Schedules get revised. Keep the old quotation and raise a new version against the same project. You can then show what changed, line by line, when the contractor asks why the total moved.
Carry the specification onto the picking list and challan
A 3000K and a 4000K carton look the same in the godown. Print the CCT on the picking list, the delivery challan and the carton label. A mismatch then has to be made against paper.
Deliveries usually go in phases as rooms get ready. Record what went to site against each room. When the contractor arrives with his own count, the pending lines are already listed.
Who checks what before the quote leaves
Split the work so no single person both matches and approves. Errors in a schedule are easier to see with a second pair of eyes.
Agree the steps once and write them down. New staff then follow the same order.
- Project desk: brings in the schedule and matches each line
- Senior salesperson: checks CCT and driver choices room by room
- Owner: approves the rates and the architect’s commission
- Godown: confirms stock against each line before a date is promised
Schedule matching sheet
Give every schedule line its own row, with columns for room, fixture type, wattage, CCT, beam angle, cut-out, matched product and checked by. Leave a column for the revision number. It shows which lines were changed when the architect sends a new version.
Open a blank worksheet to printQuestions owners ask
Can software read an architect’s PDF schedule?
Often, yes, with checking. Lines come out of Excel easily and out of most PDFs with some effort. Staff confirm each match before the quote leaves.
Will it stop the wrong colour temperature reaching site?
Not by itself. It prints the CCT on the picking list, the challan and the carton label. The final check is still a person reading the label at dispatch.
Do we need this if we mostly sell decorative lights?
No. Walk-in chandelier and fan sales are served by a retail billing app with photographs. Schedules and phased project delivery are what justify the extra system.
How is the architect’s commission handled?
Name the architect or contractor on each project. Their share is released once the client’s payment has cleared the bank, so it is never paid on money still owed.