Workflows are the foundation of Production Tracking on FactoryFour and the workflow editor is the primary tool for admins to create and manage workflow configurations. Navigate to the editor by selecting an existing workflow or creating a new one from the workflows management page.

The Basics

Add tasks and jobs to the canvas

The table in the left panel shows all existing tasks in your organization. Search for and select the task of interest, then place the card on the canvas by clicking again. To move the card click and drag the body of the card to the desired location.

If your organization has existing job workflows, the same process can be followed after switching the toggle above the table to JOB.

Draw dependencies

Dependencies inform the order in which tasks must be completed. Hover around the outside of the precedent task or job card until the blue dot appears, then click and drag the arrow to the the dependent task or job.

Shortcut: create a dependency and add a task/job at the same time by dropping an arrow on a blank space in the canvas and selecting the task/job that comes next!

Create a new task

Click the ‘Create New Task’ button, then in the modal enter a unique task name and click ‘Create’. After creation, the task will be ready to add to the canvas –– just click to drop.

Delete dependencies, tasks and jobs

Every task and job card has a red delete button at the bottom right, click to delete the card from the workflow. Deleting a task will also delete any associated dependencies. To delete a dependency without deleting the related tasks, hover over the dependency arrow and click the red circle in the middle.

Navigate the canvas

Pan: click and drag on an empty part of the canvas

Zoom: scroll or use the magnifying glasses in the bottom left corner of the editor

Publish a revision

The workflow is not accessible in the app until it has been published, to publish click the button in the top right and confirm the publication in the modal.

Task Configuration

For more advanced workflow functionality, add context to the tasks by clicking on the info icon on the task card.

• Set expected time to inform analytics
• Apply task tags to simplify task classification and filtering
• If using Asset Tracking , configure expected asset events for each task

Revision Control

Workflow Draft

The workflow editor always has an editable draft state. Changes made are auto-saved to the draft, but will not be live in the app until published. When the draft is ready to publish,

Previous Revisions

Previous revisions cannot be reverted, they must instead be loaded as a draft and a new – potentially identical – revision must be published. At any time previous revisions can be previewed for reference or loaded into the draft replacing the existing draft.

Workflow Management

Duplicate

Many workflows are similar, to start a new workflow from an existing workflow use the duplicate button on the top right of the workflow editor.

Archive

Obsolete workflows can be archived to make them unavailable for future orders though all pre-existing instances of the workflow will remain by default.

Workflow Naming

Workflow names must be unique and cannot be changed so use workflow names with enough specificity to clearly differentiate between similar workflows.

Workflow Restrictions

The workflow editor will not allow a revision to be published if any of the following restrictions aren’t met:

• All entities must have a path to start and end
• No loops or cycles in the graph
• A job cannot directly dependent on Start or initiate End