To deactivate a work center in EDGEBIC by User Solutions, open the machine, uncheck Is Available, and save. It drops out of routing dropdowns and the scheduling engine's available machine list, while every historical schedule that used it stays intact. Deactivation is the reversible, history-preserving way to retire a machine.
Deactivating is not deleting. Deleting is blocked while a machine is in use and throws the record away; deactivating keeps the audit trail and lets the machine come back. This page covers the clean retirement, and the one cleanup step that stops jobs quietly sliding afterward. For the wider machine model, start with work centers explained.
Before You Start
- You know which routings use the machine. A step whose only named resource is unavailable has nowhere to go and will slide.
- You have a replacement or reroute plan for any live work currently on the machine.
- You want to keep the history. If so, deactivate rather than delete.
Step 1: Open the Work Center for Editing
Open the Work Centers area, select the machine, and click Edit to open its configuration.
Step 2: Uncheck Is Available
Uncheck Is Available. This marks the machine out of service for scheduling.
Step 3: Save
Click Update. The machine is now inactive: gone from routing dropdowns and from the scheduler's available list, with its history preserved.
Step 4: Clear the Routing References
Deactivating hides the machine from new selections but does not rewrite existing routings. Find any active routing steps that still point at the machine and reroute them to an active machine, or give them an alternate work center so the scheduler has somewhere to send them, then rerun the schedule. Doing this stops those steps sliding for want of a resource.
What Changes When You Save
| Surface | Effect |
|---|---|
| Routing dropdowns | The machine no longer appears for new steps |
| Scheduling engine | Skips the machine entirely on the next run |
| Historical schedules | Unchanged and readable |
| A step with an alternate configured | Re-routes to the alternate |
| A step with no alternate | Slides, because its only named resource is out of service |
Deactivate Versus Delete
| Action | When to use | Effect |
|---|---|---|
| Deactivate (uncheck Is Available) | A retired or idle machine you may keep on record | Reversible; history preserved; hidden from new work |
| Delete | A record created in error and never used | Blocked while the machine is referenced by any routing, schedule, or override |
The delete guard is deliberate: it refuses to remove a machine that routings, schedules, or overrides still depend on, so you cannot orphan a routing by accident. For anything that has been used, deactivation is the correct path.
Reactivating a Machine
Deactivation is reversible, which is a large part of why it beats deletion. If a retired machine comes back into service, or a temporarily idle one is needed again, open it, recheck Is Available, and save. It rejoins the routing dropdowns and the scheduler's available list, and any routing steps that still reference it start scheduling normally again at the next run. Because the history was never thrown away, the machine's past jobs and the new ones sit on one continuous record. This makes deactivation the right tool for a machine that is out on a long maintenance window, waiting on a rebuild, or idled for a slow season, where a delete would force you to recreate the whole record and lose the trail.
How to Check It Worked
- Confirm the machine no longer appears when you add a step to a routing.
- Run the schedule and confirm no new work is placed on the machine.
- Check the jobs that used to run there. They should have moved to an alternate, and any that have not are the steps still naming the deactivated machine.
- Open a past schedule that used the machine and confirm the history still reads correctly.
Common Mistakes
Deactivating without clearing routings. A step that still names the machine has nowhere to go and slides quietly rather than failing loudly. Reroute active steps first, or immediately after, and rerun.
Deleting instead of deactivating. Deletion throws away history and is blocked while the machine is in use. For a real machine that ran real jobs, deactivate.
Assuming existing bars vanish. Deactivation stops new work landing on the machine; it does not move bars already placed. Rerun to rebuild the plan without the machine.
Forgetting the machine can return. Deactivation is reversible. If the machine comes back, recheck Is Available and it rejoins scheduling.
Next
Deactivation retires a machine cleanly: out of the plan, still in the record, and reversible if it returns. Just remember to reroute the steps that point at it before the next run. More single-task recipes are in the EDGEBIC how-to hub, and the platform overview is at /edgebic.
Expert Q&A: Deep Dive
Q: We are scrapping an old mill but want to keep its past jobs on record. What is the clean way to remove it?
A: Deactivate it rather than delete it. Uncheck Is Available on the mill and save, which takes it out of routing dropdowns and the scheduler's available list while every past schedule that used it stays readable. Then reroute any live routing steps that still point at the mill to whatever replaces it, and rerun Drive Schedule. The history is preserved, new work cannot land on the scrapped machine, and you have not orphaned any routing.
Q: We deactivated a work center and now some jobs will not schedule. What did we miss?
A: Routing steps still point at the deactivated machine. The scheduler skips an unavailable work center entirely, so a step whose only named resource is out of service has nowhere to go and slides rather than being placed. It is a quiet failure rather than a loud one, which is why it can take a day or two to notice. Find the routing steps that reference the machine and reroute them to an active one, or give them an alternate work center so the scheduler has somewhere to send them, then rerun. As a rule, clear the routing references first and deactivate second, which avoids the sliding jobs entirely.
Frequently Asked Questions
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