Production areas

A production area is a part of your shop floor, for example an assembly bay or a packing line. It groups the workstations that work there. The area decides how automatic distribution shares orders among its workstations. In advanced warehouse mode, it also decides where those workstations take material from and where their finished goods go.

Where to find it: Production → Configuration → Production areas

When you'll use it

• You set up the shop floor for the first time. Create the areas before the workstations.
• You decide whether automatic distribution should spread orders evenly over an area's workstations, or fill one workstation before the next.
• Finished goods from one part of the floor should go to a specific warehouse.
• The workstations of an area should take material only from certain warehouses.
• You want to see which workstations belong to a part of the floor.
• You want to pause a part of the floor without deleting anything.

Key concepts

Area and its workstations

A workstation belongs to one area at most. You choose the area on the workstation, on the Area step of its wizard or editor. You do not add workstations on the area itself. The area page then lists the workstations that belong to it.

Order distribution

This setting decides how automatic distribution shares orders when it runs for this area. Only the area's active workstations that have automatic distribution switched on take part.

Mode	What it does
Evenly	Orders go to the workstations one by one, in turn, so each gets about the same number.
Fill up	The first workstation gets orders until it reaches its Orders per day from distribution limit. Then the next workstation gets orders.

Example: an area has two workstations, each with a limit of 10 orders per day, and 12 orders are waiting. Evenly gives each workstation 6 orders. Fill up gives the first workstation 10 orders and the second one 2.

Area warehouses

These settings exist only in advanced warehouse mode. See Warehouse type. In simple mode, finished goods from all areas go to the main warehouse.

• Finished goods warehouse — where finished products go when they leave a workstation's buffer, for example when someone scans a PRO- label or returns the goods to a warehouse. If you leave it empty, products go to the main warehouse. Only warehouses that accept products are offered.
• Segment — the part of the finished goods warehouse that receives the goods. If you leave it empty, the warehouse's default segment is used.
• Material warehouses — the warehouses from which the area's workstations take components. Complaia reserves material first in the listed warehouse that has the most stock available. The order of the list does not matter. If you leave the list empty, the workstations take components from every active warehouse that accepts them. Finished components made at the area's workstations also go to these warehouses.

The area page shows the result of these settings, also when a field is empty. A value that Complaia uses because the field is empty is marked (default). Materials from shows the warehouses that the workstations really take components from.

Site

When your company has several sites, every area belongs to one site. Its workstations belong to the same site. The area's warehouses must belong to that site too. If you change an area's site, its workstations move with it.

What else uses the area

• The Area filter in Planning.
• The area choice in automatic distribution.
• Point of sale (POS) terminals. A terminal serves one or more areas, and a kiosk is paired with an area.

The screens

The area list

Each row is one area. A dot next to the row number shows whether the area is active. The columns are Name, Order distribution, Finished goods warehouse, Segment, Materials from, Location, Description, Created and Updated. In a company with several sites, a Site column is added after the name.

You can search, sort and filter. Use the Active filter to find inactive areas. Click a row to open the area. New area at the top creates one.

The area page

The page is for reading only. It has three tabs:

Tab	What it shows
Basic information	The name, the status, the location and the description
Workstations and orders	The order distribution mode, and the workstations that belong to the area. Click a workstation to open its card. An inactive workstation is marked Inactive.
Warehouses	The finished goods warehouse, the segment, the material warehouses and Materials from. In a company with several sites, the tab is called Site and warehouses and also shows the site.

Edit at the top opens the editor.

📷 Screenshot to add: an area page on the "Warehouses" tab, with one value marked "(default)"

The area form

A new area is created in a wizard with three steps: Basic information, Order distribution and Warehouses. You move with Next and Back. Create is at the bottom of the last step.

The editor has the same steps. It adds the Active switch on Basic information. Save is at the bottom of every step. Cancel and Delete are at the top.

Common tasks

Create a production area

1. Go to Production → Configuration → Production areas and click New area.

2. On Basic information, type a Name that people on the floor will recognise. Each area needs a different name. Optionally add a Description and a Location, for example a hall or a building.

3. Click Next. On Order distribution, choose Evenly or Fill up.

4. Click Next. On Warehouses:

   • In a company with several sites, choose the Site first. The warehouse lists then show only the warehouses of that site.
   • Optionally choose the Finished goods warehouse and its Segment.
   • Optionally choose the Material warehouses.

   In simple warehouse mode, this step shows a notice instead of the fields.

5. Click Create.

The area page opens. Now put workstations in the area.

Put a workstation in an area

For a new workstation, choose the area on the Area step of the wizard.

For an existing workstation:

1. Open the workstation card and click Edit.
2. On the Area step, choose the area.
3. Click Save.

See which workstations an area has

1. Open the area from the list.
2. Go to the Workstations and orders tab.

If the list is long, click Load more at the bottom.

Change how orders are distributed

1. Open the area and click Edit.
2. Go to Order distribution and choose Evenly or Fill up.
3. Click Save.

The new mode is used the next time someone runs automatic distribution for this area.

Set the area's warehouses

1. Make sure that the warehouse works in advanced mode. See Warehouse type.
2. Open the area, click Edit and go to the Warehouses step.
3. Choose the Finished goods warehouse and, if you need it, the Segment.
4. Choose the Material warehouses, or leave the list empty to use all warehouses that accept components.
5. Click Save.

Check the Warehouses tab on the area page. It shows where products go and where material comes from.

Move an area to another site

This applies only when your company has several sites.

1. Open the area, click Edit and go to Site and warehouses.
2. Choose the new Site. The warehouse fields are cleared, because they must belong to the new site.
3. Choose the warehouses of the new site, if you need them.
4. Click Save and confirm.

The area's workstations move to the new site. Their orders that have not started get the new site, and take material from the new site's warehouses. If any order on these workstations has already started, saving is refused. Finish those orders first.

Pause or delete an area

To pause an area:

1. Open the area and click Edit.
2. On Basic information, switch Active off.
3. Click Save.

An inactive area disappears from the Area filter in Planning and from the area list of automatic distribution. Its workstations keep working.

To delete an area:

1. Move its workstations to another area. Also remove the area from every POS terminal that serves it.
2. Open the area, click Edit, then Delete.
3. Confirm. Deleting cannot be undone.

While workstations or POS terminals still belong to the area, Delete is disabled. Point at it to see how many there are.

When it doesn't work

What you see	Why	What to do
No workstation belongs to this area on the area page	No workstation has this area chosen.	Put a workstation in the area.
An area named “…” already exists…	Another area has the same name.	Enter a different name.
Automatic distribution for the area reports that no workstation has automatic distribution switched on	None of the area's active workstations has the automatic distribution switch on.	Switch it on for the workstations that should receive orders.
The Warehouses step shows a notice instead of fields	The warehouse works in simple mode, with one main warehouse.	Switch to advanced mode if you need different warehouses per area.
A warehouse you want is not offered	The field offers only warehouses that accept the right kind of goods. In a company with several sites, it offers only warehouses of the area's site.	Change the warehouse's purpose or site in the warehouse settings, or choose another warehouse.
Choose the site of the area: the company has several sites.	Every area needs a site when there are several sites.	Choose the Site.
Changing the site is refused, with a list of orders	Workstations of the area have orders that have already started.	Finish those orders, or move their workstations to another area of the current site first.
Changing the site is refused because of POS terminals	A POS terminal would then serve areas of two sites. A terminal serves areas of one site only.	Change the areas of that terminal first, or move all its areas to the new site together.
Delete is disabled	Workstations or POS terminals still belong to the area.	Move them to another area first.
This production area is locked. Unlock it first.	Complaia has locked this area.	Switch it to inactive instead of deleting it.
There is no Delete button	Your role may not delete areas.	See Permissions.

Permissions

To do this	You need
See the list and open an area	Workstations: View
Create an area	Workstations: Create
Edit an area, including distribution and warehouses	Workstations: Edit
Delete an area	Workstations: Delete
Run automatic distribution	Production: Schedule

Related

• Workstations — the workstations that belong to an area
• Sites — areas, warehouses and workstations of each location
• Planning — automatic distribution and each workstation's queue
• Shop-floor execution — what happens at the workstation and where the goods go
• Warehouse type — simple and advanced warehouse mode
• POS terminals — terminals, kiosks and the areas they serve