# Plan the floor

> How FloorLine plans every active work order on the planning calendar, how to move work by hand, and how to get a ship date before you take an order.

Source: https://docs.floorlinehq.com/floor/planning/ (updated 2026-10-14)

*(Mid plan and up)*

FloorLine plans every active work order for you: it gives each step a start and finish time at its station, in the shop's open hours, with the most urgent orders first. The planning calendar (**Floor → Planning**) shows that plan and lets you move work by hand when you know something the planner doesn't. Admins and managers can open it.

This page explains how the planner decides, how to read and change the calendar, and how to ask "when can we ship it?" before an order is saved.

## How automatic planning works

You don't press a button to plan. A few seconds after anything the plan depends on changes, FloorLine plans the whole shop again. That includes:

- a work order created, edited, completed, canceled, or reopened
- a step started, stopped, completed, held, or released on a tablet
- purchase orders and delivery orders, and stock changes on items
- an item's bill of materials, vendors, lead times, or min and max
- stations (capacity, scheduled downtime, a station marked down) and the shop's hours

New work orders show under **Not planned yet** at the top of the calendar for those few seconds. **Plan them now** places them right away.

### What the planner follows

- **Most urgent first.** Each order's urgency is the time left until the end of its due date, less the work it still has. The order with the least slack goes first. Orders with no due date go last.
- **Steps in order.** An order's steps are planned one after another, in routing order. Nothing is planned in the past.
- **Open hours only.** Work is planned only in the hours set in **Settings → Shop settings**, on the shop's time zone. A step that doesn't fit before closing continues the next open day. If the shop has no open hours, nothing can be planned, and the calendar says so. On the High plan each location can have its own hours; see [Locations](https://docs.floorlinehq.com/setup/locations/).
- **Station capacity.** A station runs one job at a time unless you change it. An admin goes to **Settings → Stations**, chooses **Change** next to "Runs 1 job at a time", and sets **Jobs at once** (for example 3 for a drill station with three drills). The planner then runs that many steps side by side.
- **Scheduled downtime.** A weekly cleaning or monthly service set on a station is treated like closed hours: work pauses across it. A station marked down on its tablet is kept clear until it's expected back. See [Downtime and OEE](https://docs.floorlinehq.com/floor/downtime-oee/).
- **Work waits for its materials.** A step that uses materials starts no earlier than they're there: on hand now, on a purchase order (from the shop's opening on its expected date), or being made on another work order (from its planned finish). Orders claim stock by urgency, so the most urgent order gets what's on the shelf first. A material nobody has ordered or planned to make is counted in after its lead time from now, and the order shows under **Waiting on material**.
- **Running and finished steps never move.** Only steps that haven't started are planned again.

### How long a step takes

A step's planned length comes from its routing's throughput (for example 12 units an hour) times the order's quantity. A step with no throughput gets an hour. No step is shorter than 15 minutes. If you stretch a step on the calendar, that length is used instead. Set throughputs on the item's routing; see [Routings](https://docs.floorlinehq.com/setup/routings/).

## Read the calendar

*Screenshot: The planning calendar by work order: a row per work order with a bar spanning its planned steps across the week, closed hours shaded*

Choose a view at the top left:

- **By work order:** a row and one bar per order, from its first planned step to its last. Hover a bar to see each step's station and times.
- **By operation:** a row per station (work center) with a bar for each step planned there. A station that runs several jobs at once shows lanes and "N at once" under its name.

Then choose how much time to show: **Day**, **Week**, or **Month**. Use **‹** and **›** to move earlier and later, and **Today** to come back. Times are in the shop's time zone, shown at the top right. Closed hours are shaded (whole closed days on Month).

*Screenshot: The planning calendar by operation: a row per station with each step's bar in its lane*

What the bars tell you:

| Mark | Meaning |
| --- | --- |
| Red ring | The order is planned to finish after its due date. |
| Pin icon | Placed by hand. The planner keeps it there. |
| Amber dot | The order waits for materials. |
| Faded bar | Running or done. It stays put and can't be moved. |

Click a bar (without dragging) to open its work order.

On the High plan with several locations, the location picked in the header narrows the calendar to that location's stations and its clock.

## Move work by hand

When you drag a bar, the planner keeps it where you put it (it's **pinned**) and plans everything else around it.

1. Go to **Floor → Planning**.

2. Choose **By work order** to move a whole order, or **By operation** to move one step.

3. Drag the bar to its new time. It snaps to 15 minutes on **Day**, an hour on **Week**, and a day on **Month**.

4. Let go. FloorLine saves it, and the rest of the plan moves out of the way.

- **Moving a whole order** moves all its steps that haven't started and keeps their spacing.
- **Changing a step's length:** in **By operation**, drag the bar's right edge.
- **With the keyboard:** focus a bar with Tab, then press ← or → to move it one snap. In **By operation**, Shift+← and Shift+→ change its length. Enter opens the work order.
- If two pinned steps want the same time at a station, the one pinned most recently gets it.
- A step that's running or done can't move. FloorLine says "That step is running or done, so it can't move."

**Tip:**
Pin sparingly. A pinned order no longer moves when urgencies change, so the planner can't help it if something more urgent arrives or materials come in late.

### Let the planner decide again

To hand a pinned order back to the planner, open the work order and choose **Let the planner decide** under its scheduled start. Its steps go back into the automatic plan.

### Re-plan now

The planner runs on its own, but you can run it right away with **Re-plan now** at the top of the calendar. It plans every active order again (pinned steps stay pinned).

## Schedule from the work order page

On an active work order, the details show **Scheduled start** (or **Remaining steps start** once a step has started), when it finishes, and whether it was planned by FloorLine or placed by hand. Each step's planned start also shows in the routing table.

1. Open the work order.

2. Next to **Scheduled start**, choose **Change** (or **Schedule** if it isn't planned yet).

3. Pick a date and time. It's on the shop's clock.

4. Choose **Save**.

This pins the order, just like dragging it on the calendar. Steps already started stay put; the rest move. If the time you picked isn't open (closed hours, or already past), FloorLine starts it at the soonest open time and tells you when. **See it on the planner** opens the calendar.

## Waiting on material

When orders wait for materials, a **Waiting on material** box sits above the calendar with a one-line summary, such as how many wait on something "not ordered or being made yet". Choose **Show them** to list each order and what it waits for:

- **arriving** a date: it's on an open purchase order or work order, and the order starts once it's in.
- **not ordered** or **not being made**, in red: nothing covers it yet. The planner assumes it arrives after its lead time (it says when). Use **Order it** or **Make it** to go to [Replenishment](https://docs.floorlinehq.com/stock/replenishment/) and place the order. Once you do, the plan uses that order's date instead.

## When can we ship it?

Before you save a new order, FloorLine can tell you when it would be done, by running the planner as if the order existed. Nothing is saved until you create it.

**The new order goes to the back of the line.** It's planned after every order already out and claims stock after them, so asking for a date never moves anyone else's work. If you need it sooner, save it and then move it on the calendar or change its due date.

The estimate appears in three places:

- **New work order:** once you've picked the item and entered a quantity, a card says **Can be done** with a date, and whether that's "In time for the due date" or how many days after it.
- **New delivery order and new sales order:** as you fill in lines, a card says **Can ship** with a date, and how each line gets there: in stock, on its way, to make, or to order.
- **An open delivery order or sales order:** the page shows **Expected to ship**, from the current plan.

*Screenshot: The new work order form with a "Can be done" estimate under the fields*

Under the date, **What it waits on** lists what holds it back, longest first:

- **A material**, coming in on a date, or not ordered yet with its lead time ("its 6-day lead time puts it here on Tue, Oct 20"). A material with no lead time set is assumed to be on hand, and the card says so.
- **A busy station**: when its turn comes and how much work is ahead of it.

For a delivery, a made item that's short is planned as a new work order at the back of the line; a bought item that's short arrives after its lead time. A made item with no routing uses its lead time, since there's nothing to plan.

If the card says "Set the shop's hours in Shop settings to get a date", the shop has no open hours yet. If it says the routing "needs active stations", the item's routing uses an archived station.

## Below Mid

The planning calendar, scheduled starts, and ship-date estimates are on the Mid and High plans. On Free and Basic, the Planning page shows an upgrade prompt and work orders keep their due dates only.

## Related

- [Work orders](https://docs.floorlinehq.com/floor/work-orders/)
- [Set up stations](https://docs.floorlinehq.com/setup/stations/)
- [Shop settings](https://docs.floorlinehq.com/setup/shop-settings/)
- [Downtime and OEE](https://docs.floorlinehq.com/floor/downtime-oee/)
- [Replenishment](https://docs.floorlinehq.com/stock/replenishment/)