January 2021
Actions
Although I think we all started the year thinking things might be the start of something new, it looks like things are still grim for many of us. I hope you and your family are keeping well.
Personally, I found the start of the year difficult, but it seems like the rest of team shrugged it off. Things are not slowing down. Two major, exciting features this month that I think set the direction for the year.
First is the concept of Actions. We’ve been wanting to start giving operators actions to complete for a while, thinking: Wouldn’t it be great if the operator could log on in the morning and see what they have to do? Well, we’ve built that now. Actions arise when any of the following happen:
When the operator is assigned an order
When the operator is part of a User Group (you may remember the new feature we introduced in November) that is assigned to a Prep Workflow Steps (from December – see how the big picture is coming together?)
You can explicitly assign somebody to do a task in the Chat feature now. To do so, you just mention them, and click on the option to assign the task.
When an action is assigned operators get an email and the tasks appear on the dashboard when they log in to the system. Completing a task is just as easy. Operators simply log in and click on the task in either the dashboard or the full task list, to be taken to the specific section and task.
This is the first step in a series of innovations that we hope will change the way operators interact with our system and manufacturing as a whole – independent resources able to quickly prioritize, switch context and execute. Next steps would include expanding the Actions idea into the QR app, and add more actions.
The push for this actually came from our team: Far, our CTO, pushed for this in particular. Amazing to see how the team is developing its own product dynamic. Really excited to see what comes next.
The other change is along the lines of providing more context for folks: we’re now displaying renders of builds, including more information about them, and linking the location of the build directly with the part details by assigning ID’s to each:
This change was long overdue, and some way to go: 3D renders are next. But with a team like this, it can’t be long in coming, but not month. Next month I already have a range of new features to tell you about – and I can’t wait.
If you can’t either, I suggest you join the first live webinar arranged by our new sales star, Derek Ellis. Click here to register and join live on February 11th at 11 am PST, or view the recording later.
See you there!