# Set up stations

> Add the stations work moves through, put them in floor order, set how many jobs each runs at once, choose who can sign in, and schedule downtime.

Source: https://docs.floorlinehq.com/setup/stations/ (updated 2026-10-14)

A **station** is a place on your floor where a step of the work happens, like Cut, Weld, Paint, or Pack. Each item's [routing](https://docs.floorlinehq.com/setup/routings/) lists the stations it goes through, and each station can have one tablet where its operators sign in and work the jobs waiting there.

Admins add, rename, reorder, archive, and restore stations. Managers can see them. Go to **Settings → Stations**.

*Screenshot: The Stations page on the demo shop, with ten stations in floor order, each showing its tablet, who can sign in, how many jobs it runs at once, and its scheduled downtime*

## Add a station

1. Go to **Settings → Stations**.

2. Type the station's name in **New station**, like "Cut" or "Brake press".

3. Choose **Add station**.

*Screenshot: The add-station form with the New station field and the Add station button*

- The new station goes at the end of the floor order. Move it with the arrows (below).
- Active stations' names must be different from each other (ignoring capitals).
- Name stations for the kind of work, not the person who runs them. If you have two of the same machine and want to track them apart, add both ("Saw 1", "Saw 2"). If they share the same jobs, use one station and raise its [capacity](#set-how-many-jobs-a-station-runs-at-once).

A new shop starts with none:

*Screenshot: The Stations page for a new shop, with no stations yet*

On Mid and up you can also add many at once from a spreadsheet. See [Import from spreadsheets](https://docs.floorlinehq.com/setup/importing/).

## Put stations in floor order

Floor order is the order your stations are listed in: on this page, on the [Live view](https://docs.floorlinehq.com/floor/live-view/) board, and wherever you pick a station. Match it to the way work usually flows through your shop. (Each item's routing still sets its own order of steps.)

On a station's row, use **↑** to move it earlier and **↓** to move it later. Each move saves right away.

## Rename a station

Choose **Rename** on the station's row, type the new name, and choose **Save**. Routings, work orders, and history all follow the new name.

## Set how many jobs a station runs at once

Each station's row says how many jobs it runs at a time, like "Runs 1 job at a time". If a station has three drills that work three jobs side by side, set it to 3 so the [planning calendar](https://docs.floorlinehq.com/floor/planning/) plans three jobs there at once.

1. On the station's row, choose **Change** next to "Runs 1 job at a time".

2. Enter a number from 1 to 50 in **Jobs at once**.

3. Choose **Save**.

You can set capacity on every plan. The planning calendar that uses it is on Mid and up.

## Archive and restore a station

Stations are never deleted, because routings and job history point at them. When you stop using one, archive it.

1. Choose **Archive** on the station's row.

2. Confirm with **Archive** and the station's name (or **Keep** to back out).

- Archiving frees the station's slot on your plan.
- If the station has a tablet, the tablet is unpaired and shows **Needs a station** on the Tablets page. Pair it with another station there, or revoke it. Job history is kept.
- An item whose routing uses an archived station can't get new work orders until you change its routing or restore the station.
- Archived stations are listed under **Archived stations** at the bottom. Choose **Restore** to bring one back. Restoring needs a free slot.
- You can archive a station even while the shop is read-only.

## Station slots on your plan

Each active station uses one of your plan's station slots, and its one tablet comes with it. Tablets don't count separately.

| Plan | Stations (each with one tablet) |
| --- | --- |
| Free | 3 |
| Basic | 5 |
| Mid | 25 |
| High | Unlimited |

The top of the page shows how many you've used, like "4 of 5 stations on your plan". When every slot is in use, archive a station you no longer use, or have the owner add stations or upgrade in **Billing**. Extra stations are an add-on on Basic and Mid. See [Plans and limits](https://docs.floorlinehq.com/start/plans/).

## Choose who can sign in at a station

*(Mid plan and up)*

By default every operator can sign in on every station's tablet. To keep a station to the people trained on it, choose them.

1. On the station's row, choose **Who can sign in**.

2. Pick **Only selected operators**.

3. Tick each operator who may sign in there.

4. Choose **Save**.

*Screenshot: The Who can sign in form for a station, with Open to all operators, Only selected operators, and a list of operators to tick*

- Operators who aren't chosen don't appear on that tablet's list of names. If one tries anyway, the tablet says "You're not set up for this station. Ask an admin to add you."
- Admins and managers with a PIN can always sign in, at every station.
- To open the station to everyone again, pick **Open to all operators** and choose **Save**.
- Each row shows the setting: "Open to all operators" or "Only" and the names.
- Below Mid the choice is kept but not enforced: the row says it's paused and every operator can sign in. It applies again if you move back to Mid or up.

## Schedule downtime

*(Mid plan and up)*

Scheduled downtime is time a station is planned to stop, like a Monday inspection, a weekly cleaning, or a service visit. The planning calendar pauses work across it, like closed hours, and OEE leaves it out of the time the station was meant to run.

1. On the station's row, choose **Schedule downtime** (or **Change scheduled downtime** if it has some).

2. Choose **Add scheduled downtime**.

3. In **What for**, describe it, like "Inspection and cleaning".

4. Under **Repeats**, pick one:
   - **Every week**: tick the days under **On**.
   - **Every few weeks**: enter **Every** (2 to 12 weeks), pick **Starting the week of**, and tick the days under **On**.
   - **Once a month**: pick **The** (First, Second, Third, Fourth, or Last) and the **Weekday**, like the last Friday of each month.
   - **Just once**: pick the **Day**.

5. Set **Starts at** and how many **Minutes** it lasts (5 to 1,440, in steps of 5). The dialog shows the rule in words so you can check it.

6. Add more with **Add scheduled downtime**, or take one off with **Remove**.

7. Choose **Save**.

*Screenshot: The scheduled downtime dialog for the Saw, with a weekly Monday inspection and cleaning starting at 6:00 for 30 minutes*

- The start time is on the station's clock: the shop's time zone, or its location's on High.
- A station can have up to 20 scheduled downtimes.
- Each one shows on the station's row, like "Inspection and cleaning:" followed by when it happens.

## Mark a station back up

When an operator marks a station down on its tablet, the Stations page shows it in amber: **Down since** the time, the reason, when it's expected back, and who marked it down. If the station is running again but nobody marked it up on the tablet, choose **Mark back up**. Admins and managers can do this.

Marking a station back up works on every plan, so a station is never stuck down after a plan change. To report downtime from the tablet, see [Downtime and OEE](https://docs.floorlinehq.com/floor/downtime-oee/).

**Tip:**
On High with several locations, each row also shows the station's **Location**, and admins can move it to another. The header's location switcher narrows this page to one location, and new stations are added there. See [Locations](https://docs.floorlinehq.com/setup/locations/).

## Related

- [Set up tablets](https://docs.floorlinehq.com/setup/tablets/)
- [Routings](https://docs.floorlinehq.com/setup/routings/)
- [Downtime and OEE](https://docs.floorlinehq.com/floor/downtime-oee/)
- [Planning calendar](https://docs.floorlinehq.com/floor/planning/)
- [Live view](https://docs.floorlinehq.com/floor/live-view/)