How does the Dispatching Workflow work?

Orkestro Support

Modified on: Thu, 15 Oct, 2026 at 1:47 PM

To build and publish a dispatching workflow in the Orkestro Portal, please follow the steps below.

In this article

Build your workflow
Set up a fleet strategy
Test your workflow before publishing
Save and publish
Copy a workflow to your other merchants
Frequently asked questions

Build your workflow

Select 'Dispatching' in the left-hand navigation bar of the Orkestro Portal
Add a 'Condition' block and choose what it is based on from the 'Condition' dropdown
Set the values for that condition, for example orders above a certain basket value or within a certain distance
Attach a fleet strategy to the condition to decide which fleets are booked
Repeat for each condition you want to cover

Each condition splits orders into branches: "If", "Else if" and a final "Else". Branches are checked from the top down, and the first one an order matches is the one that is used. If an order could match more than one branch, the higher one wins, so put your most specific conditions above your more general ones.

Anything that doesn't match a branch follows "Else", which acts as a catch-all. It is worth giving it a fleet strategy you are happy to use as a general default.

Set up a fleet strategy

Enter a name for the strategy in the 'Name' field so you can recognise it later
Under 'Try first', click "Add a priority fleet" and add the fleets you want to prioritise, in the order you want them
Under 'Cheapest of', click "Add to cheapest pool" and add the fleets you are happy to fall back on
To remove a strategy, click "Delete fleet strategy"

We request a quote from every fleet in the strategy at the same time. Your 'Try first' fleets are booked if they can take the job. If they can't, we book the cheapest quote from the 'Cheapest of' pool. You can use either list on its own: only 'Try first' if you always want a set order, or only 'Cheapest of' if cost matters most.

More than one branch can point to the same fleet strategy.

Test your workflow before publishing

Open the 'Test' tab at the top of the builder
Click "Find an order" to load the details of a real order, or enter the details manually
Fill in the fields you want to test against: 'Basket value', 'Distance', 'Weight', 'Schedule type', 'Dropoff postcode', 'Dropoff city' and 'Pickup date and time'. Tick any of 'Contains hot food', 'Fragile', 'Contains liquid' or 'Contains restricted items' that apply
Click "Run test"
Click "Reset" to clear the fields and test another combination

The canvas highlights the path the order takes, explains why each branch passed or failed, and shows which fleet strategy would dispatch it. The test uses what is currently on screen, including changes you haven't saved yet.

Save and publish

Click "Save" to keep your changes as a draft. A draft is not live and does not affect your orders
Click "Publish" when you are ready. Your workflow goes live straight away and is used for new orders

You can keep editing a draft while the published version continues to run. "Discard draft" removes your changes and restores the published version.

Copy a workflow to your other merchants

Each merchant has its own workflow, so if you run more than one merchant you can either build a separate workflow for each or copy one across.

Save your workflow. "Copy to other merchants" is unavailable while you have unsaved changes
Click the '...' menu at the top of the page
Select "Copy to other merchants"
Choose the merchants you want to copy the workflow to, and whether to copy it as a draft or publish it straight away

Publishing goes live immediately and replaces the target merchant's existing workflow. Each merchant gets its own independent copy, so later edits to the original won't reach the copies.

The target merchant needs the same connected fleets for the copy to work. If a merchant is skipped, hover over the warning icon to see which fleets are missing, connect them to that merchant and copy again. For more detail, see our guide on applying connected fleets settings to multiple stores or merchants.

Frequently asked questions

Which order details can I use in a condition?

Basket value, as a range ("At least" and/or "Less than")
Distance in miles, as a range. This is the straight-line distance between pickup and drop-off, not the driving distance
Weight in kg, as a range
Pickup time, as one or more time windows. The end time is excluded, and a window can cross midnight (for example 22:00 to 02:00)
Day of week of the pickup
Schedule type: Urgent or Custom
Drop-off postcode, matching a full postcode or its start (for example "EC1" matches every EC1 postcode)
Drop-off city, full city name
Pickup name, pickup company, drop-off name and drop-off company, full names
Order reference, matching a full reference or its start
Item, matching when any item on the order has one of the full item names you list
Hot food, liquid, restricted items and fragile
Standing order, whether the order was created by a standing order

Text matching is not case-sensitive.

Can I combine several conditions in one branch?

Yes. Add as many condition rows as you need and choose whether the branch needs all of them ("And") or any of them ("Or"). This choice applies to the whole branch. If you need a mix of both, split the conditions across two branches.

What happens if an order is missing a detail my condition checks?

The condition doesn't match, so the order moves on to the next branch and, if nothing else matches, to "Else". For example, an order with no weight will never match a weight condition.

Which time zone do the day and time conditions use?

Europe/London. If one of your merchants operates in another time zone, please submit a support ticket before relying on time-based conditions.

What if none of my chosen fleets can take the order?

The order stays in 'Pending' status and needs to be assigned manually. Adding enough fleet services to your strategy will usually avoid this.

If a booked courier cancels or the booking fails, we go back to the fleets in the same strategy that haven't been tried yet. The workflow only books fleets from the strategy the order landed on and never books a fleet outside that list.

Can I choose a specific vehicle type or service?

Yes. Each fleet is listed with its vehicle and service type (for example "Car Direct"), and you add exactly the combinations you want. The list shows the fleets connected to that merchant.

Can I book more than one courier at once, or add more as pickup gets closer?

Yes, through the merchant's booking settings: how many bookings to make at once, when to start adding more, how often, and the maximum. These settings apply to every order for that merchant, whichever branch it follows. To change them, please contact support@orkestro.com.

Does every order go through the workflow?

Only orders created with auto-dispatch switched on.

Can I see which branch an order went down?

You can check by loading the order in the 'Test' tab.

Can I go back to an earlier version?

Not at this stage. Each merchant has one draft and one published version. For larger changes, save them as a draft and test before publishing.

Why can't I save my workflow?

The panel on the canvas lists what needs fixing, and the affected blocks turn red. Common causes are:

A block that isn't connected
A branch with no next step
A fleet strategy with no fleets
A branch whose conditions contradict each other, so it could never match

Click an item in the list to jump straight to it.

Can I turn a workflow off?

Not from the Orkestro Portal at this stage. Please submit a support ticket and we will switch it off for you.

If you have any trouble with any of the steps above, please submit a support ticket and we will be happy to help.