In Fabriq, a workstation is the group of requirements an operator must meet to work at a given place in your plant: a machine, a line, a post, a control station… It lists the required skills and the expected level for each of them.
The workstation is linked to one or more zones, which express where in the plant this work takes place.
Once your workstations are defined, Fabriq can tell you which operators are competent to work there.
💡 Example: the workstation "Press 4" groups the requirements to work on press 4: "LOTO" certified and "Changeover on press 4" at level 3. It is linked to the zone "Stamping workshop".
Before creating a workstation, create the skills it requires. See: Create a skill.
Who can create a workstation?
Workstations are created for a site. Only the site admins of a site and the organization admins can create and edit its workstations.
Create a workstation step by step
Step 1: Open the workstations catalog
Go to the Workstations catalog, then click "Add workstation".
Step 2: Fill in the workstation details
Name: the name your teams use every day (for example "Press 4" or "Line 3 – Assembly"). Two workstations cannot have the same name on the same site.
Description: what the operator does on this workstation.
-> You can choose how this name and description must be translated if you have more than one language on site.
Zone(s): where in the plant the operator works when on this workstation. Zones also help you filter your matrices later. Be precise here: choose the smallest zone you have.
Step 3: Select the required skills
Choose, from your site's skills catalog, the skills an operator needs to work on this workstation.
Step 4: Configure the requirements
❓ Rule of thumb: only require what is truly needed to work on the workstation safely and to standard. An operator is competent only if they meet all the requirements: if you add too many, almost nobody will appear as competent.
For each selected skill, define what is expected:
Certified skills: "Certification required". The operator must hold a valid certification.
Skills on a scale: "Level required". Choose the minimum level the operator must have reached. For example, level 3 if the operator must be fully autonomous.
🔀 Looking to represent a level on a workstation?
Sometimes the same place requires more when the situation is degraded: a complex product, a missing safety measure, a higher cadence… A workstation holds only one set of requirements, so create one workstation per situation.
Example: "Press 4 – Standard" requires "Changeover on press 4" at level 2, while "Press 4 – Degraded mode" requires it at level 3, plus "LOTO" certified. Both workstations are linked to the same zone.
You then see in the workstation matrix who can work in standard conditions, and who can also handle degraded ones.
Step 5: Save
Click "Create workstation". It now appears in the workstations catalog and can be added to a workstation matrix.
Edit a workstation
Open the workstation from the catalog. It has two tabs:
Details: name, description and zones
Requirements: required skills and expected levels
In the Requirements tab, your changes are marked New, Modified or Removed until you save them. You can undo a change before saving.
⚠️ Changing the required skills or the expected levels changes who is competent for this workstation. For example, if you raise a required level from 2 to 3, operators at level 2 will no longer be competent. Fabriq asks you to confirm before saving.
Next step: build your matrices
→ Read next: Set up your skills matrix.
If you have any questions, our support team is one click away.