Turn the commitment into dated tasks
Organize the work in a project with tasks, priorities, start dates and due dates, assigned to a team member or an assistant. Sampling, audits, production and shipping are ordinary tasks — the point is that each one has a date and a name on it.
Track fulfillment as its own state
Follow the order through pending, onboarding, in progress, paused, completed or cancelled, with the associated order and buyer kept in view. Changing a status is a record of progress; it does not by itself mean the buyer inspected or accepted anything.
Keep progress, payment and deal stage apart
Sales stage, order settlement and fulfillment never collapse into a single status. The business overview shows open fulfillment work and outstanding orders side by side, so a finished task is never mistaken for a received payment.