Workstations, units, and components

Workstations and units represent operational assets, such as an office station, computer, machine, or field device. Their components keep their identity and history as their location changes.

Availability: everyone can view assets assigned to them; asset administration requires the independent Manage assets permission. Level: Intermediate.

Purpose

It shows which assets exist, who they are assigned to, which configuration created them, which components they contain, and which installations or replacements took place.

Requirements

• A published template must exist before an asset can be created.
• To create, edit, assign, archive, or adopt a revision: be an owner, administrator, or have Manage assets.
• A user without that permission sees assets assigned to them and authorized context within reports.
• Managing assets does not automatically grant inventory management or access to every report.

Step by step

1. Open Workstations and units to see assigned or manageable assets.
2. A manager creates the asset by choosing a published template, whose class defines whether it is a workstation or unit, and entering a name and operational code; initial assignments and optional components can then be added.
3. The manager defines the operational code. When the asset is activated, ReportArea generates a permanent internal code; both help identify the physical device.
4. Open the detail to review current configuration, assignments, and history.
5. Update responsible users through assignments; earlier assignments remain in history.
6. Install or replace components from a report when an available delivery or consumption exists.

Rules and effects

• A workstation and a unit use the same traceability behavior; the class describes the asset.
• An asset's operational code is unique within the organization and can be updated while the asset is not archived. Internal codes generated by ReportArea when activating assets or creating components are unique and immutable.
• Archiving removes an asset from normal use without deleting its history.
• Each physical component preserves its identity through installations, replacements, returns, and retirement.
• Components can form a tree up to five levels below the asset.
• An asset supports up to 500 active installations; a template position may allow from zero to 50 occurrences.
• Asset and inventory permissions are independent: an asset manager designs and administers equipment, while an inventory manager controls stock and delivery.

Required and optional information

Required at creation: published template, operational code, and name. Optional: initial assignments, components, manufacturer serial, external identifiers, notes, customer, and descriptive data allowed by the template.

Practical example

The company creates a “Duty notebook” unit using a notebook template and assigns it to Ana. Identified memory and storage components are installed. Months later, the device is reassigned to Bruno: its detail shows the current assignment while preserving the earlier one and the history of every component.

Current limits

• Labels and QR codes cannot be printed.
• A serial number may repeat; the system warns rather than absolutely forbidding it.
• Asset management permission alone does not grant stock access or access to unrelated reports.
• Archived assets are not offered for new normal operations.