Setting up the workflow: stages, roles and target times

Open the editor

In the Settings menu, open “Workflow” under “Operations”. Editing needs the workflow management permission; without it, members who work on orders see the workflow read-only. The canvas is made for a wide screen: on a phone you see the stages and where they lead as a list, but cannot edit them.

The “Stages” palette is on the left, the canvas in the middle, the properties of what you selected on the right and the “Problems” list below. Every change starts as a draft, and “Undo” and “Redo” step through it.

Add stages and moves

1. 1

   Add a stage

   Drag a stage type from the palette onto the canvas, or click it. The types are Standard, Design, Parallel production, Department, Packing, Installation and Purchasing. The type sets how the stage behaves: a Design stage needs a designer, Parallel production hands the work out to departments.

2. 2

   Put departments into parallel production

   A workflow has one parallel production stage, and departments such as CNC, paint or electrics are added inside it. You do not draw moves into departments: when an order reaches parallel production, whoever moves it picks the departments that work on it and the responsible department that finishes last.

3. 3

   Draw a move

   Drag from the dot on a stage's right side to another stage. If the target comes earlier in the flow, the move is added as a way back, for rework. A move can be limited to certain order types.

4. 4

   Choose the starting stages

   Each order type (Production, Repair, Design) starts at one stage. Set it under “Starting stages” in the right-hand panel, or on the stage itself.

Attach roles, set targets and sub-statuses

1. 1

   Attach roles to a stage

   Select a stage and add roles under “Roles”. Members with those roles see and work the orders at that stage. Nobody can work the orders of a stage without roles, and the editor warns you about it. People are given roles under Settings › Team.

2. 2

   Set a target

   Under “Target and sub-statuses”, “Target (hours)” is the longest an order (or a department's task) should stay at the stage, in calendar hours. Leave it empty for no target. The order's flow view compares the time spent at the stage with this target.

3. 3

   Add sub-statuses

   Use “Add sub-status” to name the states inside a stage, such as “Cutting” or “At the chrome shop”, and pick a colour. A stage holds up to 20. A sub-status you remove stays visible on the orders that carry it until they change. You can also edit them under Settings › Sub-statuses.

Publish your changes

1. 1

   Clear the problems

   The “Problems” list shows errors and warnings. Errors, such as an order type without a starting stage or a stage nothing leads to, block publishing. You can publish with warnings.

2. 2

   Press “Publish changes”

   The review lists the stages and moves you added, removed and changed, in words. Check it and press “Publish”; new orders and stage moves use the new workflow at once.

3. 3

   Keep your draft on a conflict

   If someone else published while you were editing, download your draft as a file, load the published version and apply your changes again. Two people cannot overwrite each other's work.

What happens to orders in a deleted stage?

When you delete a stage that holds orders, the editor asks “Where should the orders go?” and you choose a target stage. On publishing, those orders move there and lose their sub-status. You can change the target in the publish review. The deleted stage still appears by name in past records, so older orders keep a readable history.