--- title: "A Tour of the shop floor" slug: "a-tour-of-the-shop-floor" status: "update" updated: 2026-05-21T21:25:14Z published: 2026-05-21T21:25:14Z canonical: "support.tulip.co/a-tour-of-the-shop-floor" --- > ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://support.tulip.co/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # A Tour of the shop floor *This update improves the usability of the shop floor and upgrades app performance.* Feature update From r283 onwards, display devices are renamed interfaces. The Shop Floor tab is the place to manage all your work stations running the Tulip Player. This page will help you organize which apps can run at given Stations. You can assign your gateways into the appropriate locations as well. A station in the context of Tulip is very similar to a work station on the shop floor. It is a way to organize tools, determine what work should be done in this space, and give insight into what is happening there. ## Manage stations Stations can be easily managed within the **Shop Floor** tab. You can group stations by first creating a new group. To do this, select the blue **Create Station** button in the top right corner of this page, and select **Create Station Group**. ![](https://cdn.document360.io/7c6ff534-cad3-4fc8-9583-912c4016362f/Images/Documentation/A%20Tour%20of%20the%20Shop%20Floor_189748237.png) Adding stations to defined station groups makes management easy. Stations can also be reordered in the right side pane by dragging and dropping. It is important to note that within the Shop Floor, Interfaces (display device) do not automatically register to a station. Once you [register a device](https://support.tulip.co/docs/how-to-run-an-app-in-the-tulip-player) you will need to assign the interface to a station. Don't forget to assign app configurations, detailed later in this article. On any given station, there must be exactly one interface, but there may be multiple gateways at a station. ## Live preview The live preview shows a real-time view of the current application running on the Player. The top right displays which version of the application this player is running. Click on the name of the app step to go to the App Editor for the application. Warning Live preview does not guarantee the same rendering behavior as the Player, and certain functionalities may not render, such as Table Aggregations. **Users should test apps in the Tulip Player to verify widget behavior.** ### More app info ![](https://cdn.document360.io/7c6ff534-cad3-4fc8-9583-912c4016362f/Images/Documentation/A%20Tour%20of%20the%20Shop%20Floor_189749100.png) Live preview contains additional information from the current app, such as: **Operator** - Shows the currently logged in user for the displayed app **Fired Events** - Displays any recent device triggers from the station. **Connected Edge Devices** - Shows all connected devices at the station. ## Configuration pane Each station must be configured for app assignments. By default, a new station has no app assignments, so the device cannot run any application. Apps and app groups can be selected for configuration, as well as which version can be run by the station. ![](https://cdn.document360.io/7c6ff534-cad3-4fc8-9583-912c4016362f/Images/Documentation/A%20Tour%20of%20the%20Shop%20Floor_189749306.png) Applications that are allowed for use at the station can be selected by pressing the **Edit** button on this configuration pane. If you’d like any app to be able to run, there is also an **Any** setting. ![](https://tulip-6b1d5e66f92a.intercom-attachments-7.com/i/o/185738637/7232a0ad0758b6fbf16019ff/H2Sh-6gRrlcnjLQxou4O7qMe9pqsJjH61PeyBTe-YKTHJSBn_zURb_hVPAgH9vzvud5w0MaobG_Hj5TANo4VJxMRWPDQavKU__daToAhZeT6f8XmGstxXJQg81g-uvSIyQ_uV3GS?expires=1619722800&signature=60e752b7ae34f9b20bfd1f00f98ad315b8afa68c2f8cb7fa5a083e5b3db19acc) ### More configuration information Each device also has additional configuration info on the side of the configuration pane. ![](https://cdn.document360.io/7c6ff534-cad3-4fc8-9583-912c4016362f/Images/Documentation/A%20Tour%20of%20the%20Shop%20Floor_189749883.png) This information breaks down into a few parts. **Interface (display device) -** This is the physical device which is in use. This can be changed to another interface at any time. **Timezone -** Changes the current date and time info for the station. **Gateways -** Gateways attached to this station are displayed here. Multiple gateways can be assigned to any station by adding gateways here. You can click into any gateway for more information about it. The following information will display by clicking on a gateway in the station: ![](https://cdn.document360.io/7c6ff534-cad3-4fc8-9583-912c4016362f/Images/Documentation/A%20Tour%20of%20the%20Shop%20Floor_195283618.png) ## Further reading - [Configure a station](https://support.tulip.co/docs/how-to-set-up-a-station) - [Adding a gateway](https://support.tulip.co/docs/setting-up-a-tulip-io-gateway) --- Did you find what you were looking for? You can also head to [community.tulip.co](https://community.tulip.co/?utm_source=intercom&utm_medium=article-link&utm_campaign=all) to post your question or see if others have solved a similar topic! **Shop Floor** The area of the platform responsible for moving applications into production. Under the shop floor, you can manage **Stations**, **Edge Devices,**and the app publication details such as which **Version** is accessible to users, which **Devices**are connected to the app, and which **Interface (display device)******the app is run on. **Tulip Player** **Tulip Player** is the Windows/Mac executable program where users can run Tulip apps. Tulip player allows you to create a more seamless user experience by removing the need for a web browser and allows increased IT controls. **Station** **Stations**are a digital representation of a physical place or device in your facility. Stations are 1:1 with **Interfaces (display devices)** running Tulip Player, but Stations can also be assigned **Edge Devices,**Tulip Vision Camera Configurations, Machines,****and more. **Interface (Display Device)** Users interact with Tulip applications through physical devices like touchscreens, PC monitors, mobile devices, and LCD screens. We refer to these as **interfac****es.**Interfaces must be assigned to a **station** in order to run applications. **App Editor** The web interface used for building applications. Where you design a user interface, add logic, and connect your applications to **Tables**. ![](https://cdn.document360.io/7c6ff534-cad3-4fc8-9583-912c4016362f/Images/Documentation/Screen%20Shot%202022-09-13%20at%207.50.23%20AM.png) **Table Aggregations** **Aggregations**are calculations on top of table data, this can include things like the average value of a column within a **Tulip Table.** **Edge Devices** **Edge Devices** are any hardware intended to connect physical things to the cloud. This can include entirely mechanical devices, older machines without network functionality, PLCs, and more. Tulip sells the **Edge IO** and **Edge MC** that interface directly into **Triggers** in a breeze, but Tulip can also support other Edge Devices.