Using Locations

Subscription Tier Required

This feature requires the Premier subscription tier or higher.

In a multi-plant GS deployment, Locations make it easy to separate activities at one plant from another. Locations enable Users at each plant to enter and analyze data for their own plant, while corporate Users are still able to analyze and compare data across multiple plants.

Tip

While the most common use case for Locations is to separate entities by distinct, physical location, any other business unit can be used, such as a division or region. Like all entities in GS, the label "Location" can be renamed to fit these needs.

Each account comes with a single Location named "Location 1" pre-installed. The Location field will be hidden on most entities until multiple Locations have been created.

Locations apply to the following entities:

• Parts
• Processes
• Characteristics
• Defects
• Defect Categories

Locations and Entities

Locations are used to control access to entities based on the Locations set on the User. When creating Users, at least one Location must be selected unless the User's Role has the Allow Access to All Locations permission. By default, this permission is only on the Admin Role.

When creating entities, Locations is an optional field. Entities can be assigned to multiple Locations. This is useful in scenarios where, for example, the same Part is produced at multiple facilities. Entities with no Locations specified are available to all Locations.

In order for a User without the Allow Access to All Locations permission to have access to an entity, their set of Locations must have at least one overlapping Location with the entity. For example, consider the following:

• A User is assigned the Locations Plant A and Plant B, and
• A Part is assigned to Locations Plant B and Plant C.

Then the User will be granted access to the Part due to the shared Location (Plant B).

Tip

If an entity is unexpectedly inaccessible to a User, verify that the User and the entity share at least one Location.

Locations and Data

Similar to Locations on entities, Locations are also used to control access to data records. The Location field is required on all data records. Users are allowed to retrieve, edit, or delete data records only if they are assigned to the same Location as the data record.

When a Dashboard, Chart, or Report is generated, GS will automatically filter the underlying data to include only those records that match the User’s Locations. This applies whether the User is viewing raw data, visualizations, or summary statistics.

Example

Consider the following setup:

• Locations
  • Chicago, Toronto, and Seattle.
• Users
  • Michael, assigned to Chicago and Seattle.
  • Jen, assigned to Toronto.
• Parts
  • 3" Bolt, assigned to Chicago.
  • 5" Bolt, assigned to Toronto and Seattle.
  • 7" Bolt, assigned to no Locations.
• Data Records
  • Record 1, linked to Chicago.
  • Record 2, linked to Toronto.

Then the following access rules would apply:

Item	Accessible to Michael?	Accessible to Jen?
3" Bolt	Yes, they share Chicago.	No, there are no shared Locations.
5" Bolt	Yes, they share Seattle.	Yes, they share Toronto.
7" Bolt	Yes, this Part is not assigned to any Locations, so it is accessible to all Users.	Yes, this Part is not assigned to any Locations, so it is accessible to all Users.
Record 1	Yes, they share Chicago.	No, Jen is not assigned to Chicago.
Record 2	No, Michael is not assigned to Toronto.	Yes, they share Toronto.

See Also

• Locations
• Users