The Production Operator Dashboard (POD) Designer is a tool for configuring different kinds of production operator dashboards for your shop floor. It offers a visual representation of the manufacturing process, which allows production operators to track work and view data. With the POD Designer, layouts for dashboards can be customized, and data can be displayed graphically. Default dashboards can be modified and personalized by adding different plugins.
The POD Designer offers a slew of key features. It simplifies the process of creating personalized dashboard layouts, allows drag-and-drop plugins on the canvas, provides a real-time view of dashboard designs, and enables the configuration of often-used lists, such as component and work lists.
The user interface of the POD Designer has four main areas: the Toolbox panel, the Plugin panel, the canvas, and the Configuration panel. Let's gain a deeper understanding of these four main areas.
1. The Toolbox Panel
The Toolbox panel includes Controls and Pages sections. The Controls Tab offers different controls that can be added to the POD by dragging them onto the canvas. The Pages section, on the second tab, shows the current structure of the POD with all its elements. You can add pages there, or move and delete controls.
2. The Plugin Panel
The Plugins section has different plugins you can use on your POD to give it certain functions. There are many plugins preset by SAP. Furthermore, custom plugins, which can be added by the user, are marked with a blue side frame. To assign a plugin to a layout element on the canvas, simply select the desired plugin in the Plugins area and drag it to the applicable layout component. A clear visual cue will indicate where the plugin can be dropped. Once placed, you can further configure the respective plugin.
3. Canvas
The POD Designer's canvas is utilized for creating new PODs by placing layout components and plugins on it. The POD Selection plugin, which allows you to configure POD settings like labels, tooltips, and default preferences, is found at the top of the canvas. The canvas's workspace can be expanded by incorporating pages into your POD. You can switch the pages in the canvas in order to configure them to your needs.
4. Configuration Panel
The Configuration panel features settings that could be relevant to each of the layout components and POD plugins. This panel shows a range of configuration alternatives when a layout component or a plugin is chosen on the canvas. The Configuration panel can be opened or closed by selecting the corresponding button on the toolbar above the canvas, or by right-clicking the required plugin or layout component and selecting Configuration.