How Unwilted avoids stockouts and overselling during demand spikes with Katana

Taking handcrafted paper florals from a local studio to nationwide shipping

Unwilted, founded by Liz Carter, is a woman-owned, U.S.-based business creating sustainable floral arrangements made entirely of Italian crepe paper. Their product line includes bouquets, single stems, and seasonal arrangements, all crafted to order in a single studio and shipped nationwide through their Shopify store.

Every item is designed to bring joy without waste. Behind the scenes, these handcrafted pieces rely on a clear, repeatable production process: tight control of hundreds of paper colors and other raw materials, careful design work, and close coordination between the studio, manufacturing, and fulfillment. Keeping every stem consistent is what protects the look and feel of the brand for a small team like this. “I’ve always said flowers are a gift of emotion, and with paper flowers I can finally offer that joy without the waste or perishability.”

A layered production flow

Unwilted’s workflow centers on a library of semi-finished goods. Liz designs each individual stem herself, working with international suppliers and Italian-made crepe paper to get the structure, color, and feel she wants. These handcrafted stems become the building blocks for the finished bouquets assembled in-house. Each stem pulls from multiple raw materials — paper, wire, tape, glue, packaging — so losing track of one part affects the finished bouquet.

Each bouquet is a custom composition drawn from this pool of components. To maintain product quality and keep up with demand, Liz needs a clear view of which stems are available, what’s already committed to open orders, and what needs to be reordered ahead of time to support new product launches and seasonal peaks. That visibility keeps quality steady even as orders grow beyond what the studio would usually handle.  

The team was managing critical operations manually, leaving tens of thousands of dollars in raw material sitting unused. With expansion on the horizon — including a move to a 20,000 sq. ft. facility and a multi-million-dollar investment in new machinery — Found Surface needed a reliable, scalable system to serve as its operational backbone.

Katana quickly became the solution that allowed Found Surface to organize operations, support growth, and unlock $40,000 worth of misplaced materials — all while laying the foundation for their 5× scale-up. 

Disconnected tools couldn’t keep up 

Before moving to Katana, Unwilted relied on a patchwork of disconnected tools:

• Shopify for ecommerce
• QuickBooks Online for accounting
• A previous, outdated inventory system
• Spreadsheets for production coordination

As Unwilted grew through word of mouth and media features, issues that had been easy to work around started to slow things down. Spreadsheets couldn’t keep up, and bills of materials sat separately from the stock on hand, so Liz was often unclear on what she had in stock or what she could safely sell. With long manufacturing lead times, even a small mistake could show up in the flowers that left the studio or in orders she couldn’t ship when promised.

A system built for assembly and accuracy

Unwilted needed a connected system that fit make-to-order production and multi-level assemblies and helped her keep control over product quality. With Katana, Liz now has:

• Real-time visibility into semi-finished stems and raw material inventory
• Accurate, multi-level BOMs linking stems to finished bouquets
• Instant insight into how many finished goods can be made based on current stock
• Automatic Shopify inventory sync to prevent overselling
• Integrated purchasing workflows to replenish materials with long
  lead times
• A direct connection to QuickBooks Online for accounting

Katana gives her the structure she needs to plan three yearly manufacturing cycles, maintain safety stock, and prepare confidently for PR-driven demand spikes.

Real-time visibility into sellable stock

Unwilted carries inventory of semi-finished flower stems, which are assembled into finished bouquets as orders come in. Katana shows how many finished products can be created based on current stem inventory, which directly informs what should be visible or hidden on Shopify. The team only lists what they can actually make to the same standard, even when demand spikes. This real-time availability helps prevent overselling during holidays, media features, or viral moments. When materials run low, Katana triggers reorder alerts so Unwilted can stay ahead of stockouts, even during busy periods.

The outcome: control over quality while the business grows 

By replacing a fragile patchwork of tools with a connected system built around Katana, Unwilted has gained the visibility needed to protect product quality while still supporting both creativity and growth. With real-time insight into semi-finished goods, demand, and Shopify availability, Liz can plan new products, manage long lead times, and handle seasonal surges with a clear view of her stock instead of relying on rough estimates, even with a small team managing a large set of raw materials.

Most importantly, Katana supports her long-term ambition: to scale a handcrafted, design-led product without losing the artistry at its core.