Setting Up Stations
Complete guide to creating, configuring, and managing work stations on your production floor.
What Is a Station?
A station in JobLine.ai represents a physical work center on your production floor. This could be a CNC milling machine, a lathe, a welding booth, a grinding station, an inspection bench, a deburring area, or a shipping dock. Stations are the fundamental unit where work happens — operators check into them, work orders are processed at them, and handoffs are written about them.
Creating a Station
Supervisors and Admins can create stations from the Teams page (click a team, then "Add Station") or from Settings → Stations. Enter the station name (e.g., "Haas VF-2 #3"), select the work center type from the dropdown (Mill, Lathe, Grinder, etc.), and assign it to a team. The station immediately appears in the team's station grid on the dashboard.
Work Center Type
The work center type is a classification that determines which work orders get routed to this station. When a work order's routing includes a "Mill" step, it appears in the queues of all stations typed as "Mill" within the appropriate team. Choose the type that best matches the station's primary function. If no built-in type fits, Admins can create custom types in Settings → Work Centers.
Station Configuration Options
Beyond name and type, you can configure: Display Name (a friendly name shown on dashboard cards — useful when the full name is long), Capacity (default: 1 — how many concurrent jobs the station can handle), and Notes (freeform text for permanent information about the station, like "Maximum workpiece size: 20×16×20 inches" or "Requires flood coolant").
Linking Equipment
Each station can be linked to an equipment record that stores machine-specific details: manufacturer, model, serial number, and maintenance schedule. This link is optional but recommended — it enables equipment tracking and makes your station cards more informative. See the Machine Profiles article for details on setting this up.
Editing and Deactivating Stations
Edit a station by clicking its name in the station list and modifying any field. Changes take effect immediately. If a station is taken out of service (sold, moved, or permanently idle), deactivate it instead of deleting it. Deactivated stations are hidden from the active station grid but their historical data (handoffs, work order records) is preserved for reporting.