Overview

Shop Workers are the people who do the hands-on work in your facility — sandblasters, coaters, maskers, oven operators, and supervisors. Adding your workers to the system lets you assign them to jobs and maintenance tasks, giving you a clear picture of who is working on what at any time.

Shop Workers are separate from system user accounts. A worker does not need to log into the system — they are simply a record that can be assigned to work. If a worker also needs to log in and update job statuses themselves, an Administrator can create a linked user account for them with the Shop Floor role.

Find Shop Workers under Operations › Shop Workers in the sidebar.

Adding a Worker

To add a new shop worker:

Go to Operations › Shop Workers and click New Worker.
Fill in the worker's details:
- Name — the worker's full name as it should appear on job assignments.
- Role — select the role that best describes their primary function (see below).
- Phone — optional, useful for supervisors to have on file.
- Email — optional, used if the worker also has a system login.
- Notes — any relevant information, such as certifications, shift preferences, or specialties.
Ensure Active is checked (it is on by default).
Click Save Worker.

Once saved, the worker will appear in the assignment dropdowns on the Job Create and Edit forms.

Worker Roles

Each worker is assigned one of the following roles. The role is a label — it helps you pick the right person for a job but does not restrict what a worker can be assigned to.

Role	Description
General Labor	Versatile workers who assist across multiple areas of the shop — loading and unloading, racking parts, clean-up, and general support tasks. Not specialized in a single process.
Sandblaster	Operates the sandblasting or media-blasting equipment to prepare metal surfaces for coating. Responsible for achieving the correct surface profile and ensuring all rust, paint, and contamination is removed.
Coater	Applies powder coating using an electrostatic spray gun. Responsible for even coverage, correct mil thickness, and minimizing overspray and waste. Often the most skilled technical role on the floor.
Masker	Applies masking tape, plugs, and caps to protect threads, bearing surfaces, and areas that must not be coated. Attention to detail is critical — missed masking means rework.
Quality Control	Inspects finished parts for adhesion, color consistency, coverage, and surface defects before the job is marked as complete. May also handle pre-coat inspection after sandblasting.
Oven Operator	Loads parts into the curing oven, sets correct temperatures and cure times for the powder being used, monitors the cure cycle, and unloads parts safely after cooling.
Supervisor	Oversees day-to-day shop floor operations, assigns tasks to other workers, ensures jobs are progressing on schedule, and handles escalations. May also handle customer communication for production updates.
Maintenance	Responsible for keeping equipment running — performing scheduled preventive maintenance, troubleshooting breakdowns, and coordinating with external service technicians when needed.

Assigning Workers to Jobs

Each job can have one worker assigned to it as the primary responsible person. This is the worker who owns the job from start to finish — typically a coater or supervisor.

To assign a worker when creating or editing a job:

Open the job's Create or Edit form.
Scroll down to the Assignment section.
Select a worker from the Assigned Worker dropdown. Only active workers are listed.
Save the job.

The assigned worker's name appears on the job list view, on the job detail page, and in any reports filtered by worker.

Workers can also be assigned to maintenance tasks on equipment. See the Equipment & Maintenance help page for details.

If a worker you want to assign does not appear in the dropdown, check that their record is marked as Active. Inactive workers are hidden from assignment lists.

Deactivating a Worker

When a worker leaves the shop or is no longer available for assignment, deactivate their record rather than deleting it. Deactivating preserves the history of all jobs they were assigned to, while removing them from the active assignment dropdowns so they cannot be accidentally selected for new work.

To deactivate a worker:

Open the worker's Details or Edit page.
Uncheck the Active checkbox.
Click Save.

Alternatively, use the Delete button on the Details page to perform a soft delete, which has the same effect.

If a worker currently has open jobs assigned to them, reassign those jobs first before deactivating the worker — so the jobs remain clearly owned and nothing falls through the cracks.