Sending work to a device by itself
Even with a working terminal, the operator has to find their own work, three times per operation. Work automation removes that step.
An automation rule reacts to a defined moment in the process: a wave being planned, an operation being started, or collecting being finished. Once that moment occurs, the relevant work card is displayed on the device the moment belongs to.
The mechanism does not change operator permissions or the scope of access. It determines only where the work is displayed.
Before you start
Section titled “Before you start”A working terminal is required. Rules deliver work to devices, so at least one device has to be enrolled and signed in to at least once. → Switching on the warehouse terminal
The devices have to have a role. A rule targets aisle tablets or packing benches. A device whose scope has not been narrowed is offered every kind of work.
The organisation of work in the hall has to be decided. You have to determine which of the three suggested rules matches the way work is organised in the hall.
1. Open the screen and read the empty state
Section titled “1. Open the screen and read the empty state”Stockly → Warehouses → Work automation. With no rules defined, the screen displays Work does not find its own way yet and explains the purpose of a rule. The same screen contains the shortcut to the suggested rules.
2. Take the suggested rules
Section titled “2. Take the suggested rules”Use the suggested rules opens Suggested rules with three predefined rules. Select the ones that describe your process and press Create selected rules. Each of them becomes an ordinary rule that can be edited or switched off later.
| Suggested rule | What it does |
|---|---|
| Picking to the aisle tablet | When somebody starts an operation, the card appears on their aisle terminal |
| Packing to the bench | When collecting is done, the card appears on their packing bench |
| Free waves to the hall | A wave nobody has taken is offered, with a sound, to any free aisle terminal in that warehouse |
For most shops this completes the setup. Further steps are needed only when the organisation of the hall differs from the suggested rules.
3. Or compose one by hand
Section titled “3. Or compose one by hand”Add rule opens a wizard of five steps: What happens, Who it is about, Where it opens, How it arrives and Name it. When defines the moment:
| When | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Work is handed to a picker | A wave has just been planned and nobody has picked from it yet |
| An operation is started | Somebody has begun working it and is collecting |
| Collecting is done, packing begins | The operation has moved to packing |
| Work is waiting to be taken | A wave nobody owns — planned centrally, or given back to the pool |
Applies to narrows the rule by Operator, Warehouse and Packing station. A condition left empty means any value, and all conditions that are filled in have to be met at the same time.
Whose device determines where the card is displayed, either on The same person’s devices or on Any device in that warehouse. How has two options. Offer it shows a card in the corner of the screen with a single button and never takes over the screen. Open it when the device is idle opens the work on an idle packing station and falls back to the card on a device that has anything on its screen.
This device’s part states what the invited device is given the work for. Collecting only — hand the run back afterwards ends that part at collecting: once the operator moves the run on to packing, it returns to the bench they walked to and the screen closes. The whole run — this device finishes it leaves the run on the device to the end.
4. Set the two windows
Section titled “4. Set the two windows”Seen in the last … minutes prevents work from being sent to a device that is not in use. A device that has not been used for longer than this period is treated as switched off, and work sent to it would be lost. Valid for … minutes ends the offer. After that time the work waits on My work, where it was available the whole time.
Checking it works
Section titled “Checking it works”Plan a wave. The card appears on the aisle tablet of the operator the wave was planned for, without anybody opening a list. Accepting the card opens the operation. Ignoring it has no consequences, because the work was available on My work the whole time.
When nothing arrives
Section titled “When nothing arrives”Rules that specify equally many conditions are ordered by Priority, and a rule naming both the operator and the hall always takes precedence over one naming the hall alone. Three further situations disable a rule without any error: the device has not been seen within its time window, the rule is not Active, or the work has no operator to address — a wave nobody has taken is offered to a hall, not to a single person. → Work automation
Where to go next
Section titled “Where to go next”- Work automation — every field of a rule, in detail.
- Work, handing over and no connection — what the operator sees when the card arrives.
- Picking waves — where the work being handed out comes from.