Entity settings

Entity settings are the configuration that controls how one site runs its day-to-day work in Bulk. An entity, also called a site, is a single facility such as a plant or a lab, and your organization can run several. These settings decide how that site handles inbound documents (the customer paperwork you scan or upload to start work), how it turns that work into production jobs, how it gates work for individual customers, and what the invoices and credit notes it issues look like. Related per-site asset-type layout defaults (for example Load Job visible columns and concurrent-job capacity, record-station load-job batch limits, and whether a peaking bench records time) live with the site's asset types so each plant can tune shop-floor benches without changing organization-wide master data.

Because each site runs differently, entity settings apply to the site you currently have selected. This page explains what you can configure and points you to the step-by-step guide for each area.

You reach these settings under Settings › Entity in the left sidebar. The group holds three pages: Settings, Invoicing, and Invoice Fields. Every change applies to the site shown in the site switcher at the top of the app, so confirm the correct site is selected before you edit. Switch sites there first if you manage more than one.

Before you startCopy Anchor Link

These are administrative pages, so you need a role whose permissions cover them. In the default roles, the Entity admin and Manager roles include the entity settings permissions, and the Super user role has every permission. The three areas use different permissions:

• Settings (operating rules and customer statuses) needs the entity operating-rules configuration permission to change, and entity view to open.
• Invoicing needs the production-invoicing configuration permission to change.
• Invoice Fields needs the forms edit permission (the same permission the forms builder uses).

Opening a page and saving a change require different permissions. If a change is denied, ask an administrator to check the matching edit permission. See Roles and permissions for how roles map to permissions.

What you can configureCopy Anchor Link

Settings: operating rules and customer statusesCopy Anchor Link

The Settings page has two tabs: Operating rules and Customer statuses.

Operating rules groups five switches by where they apply. Each switch saves when changed:

• Under Inbound, Require PDF requires an attachment before creating an inbound document. Require a part requires a part before an inbound item can be marked ready. Require a process requires a process before jobs are created.
• Under Jobs, Always quantity 1 makes new inbound items and jobs use quantity 1. Leave it off to use the quantity entered.
• Under Workstation, Allow stop on logout makes the logout confirmation offer stopping eligible running timers. Turn it off to keep those timers running when someone logs out.

Customer statuses define an enforcement matrix: named statuses (for example an invoice hold) that gate five customer operations: inbound submit, production creation, invoice draft, invoice issue/send, and customer delivery. Each operation on a status is set to allow, warn, or block. Preset starters such as No limitations, Invoice hold, Production stop, and All stop give you a standard setup in one click, and you can create your own. A status is defined here and then assigned to individual customers, where it enforces those rules.

For the full walkthrough, see Update entity settings.

Invoicing: the invoicing profileCopy Anchor Link

The Invoicing page holds this entity's invoicing profile: the company and seller details used on every invoice and credit note the site issues. It covers the seller name, address, and email, plus a logo, a default tax rate, and the approval policy for issuing invoices.

Bulk freezes these details onto each invoice at the moment it is issued. An invoice cannot be issued until the profile has at least a resolvable seller name and seller address (the seller name falls back to the site's own name if you leave it blank). For the full walkthrough, see Configure an invoicing profile.

Invoice Fields: extra fields on issued documentsCopy Anchor Link

The Invoice Fields page is a builder for the extra fields captured on every invoice and credit note for this entity. You switch between Invoice and Credit note and add fields to each, and some defaults are seeded for you. These fields appear on the issued document, so they are useful for information a customer needs to see: a purchase-order reference, a lab identifier, or a material batch number. For the full walkthrough, see Configure invoice fields.

Site process setupCopy Anchor Link

Each site organises manufacturing processes in catalogues under Settings → Master Data → Processes, plus a built-in Uncatalogued view for processes with no catalogue. Revision history and availability (whether a revision can be picked for new work) are managed separately from approval status. Deleting a catalogue moves its processes to Uncatalogued rather than removing them. See Manage processes.

Routing approval policies are also site-specific. Large inbound submissions continue in the background and use the selected site's routing policies. If an administrator changes one of those policies before the submission publishes its approval requests, Bulk stops that submission safely so the planner can retry with the new policy instead of creating a mixed approval set. See Manage routings.

Review the selected site before changing rulesCopy Anchor Link

The current Operating rules page saves each switch as soon as you change it. It has no separate Save changes or Reset footer. Confirm the site in the sidebar header and review its existing values before changing a rule. The current design does not lock these controls merely because the site already has production jobs.

Example: Wayne EnterprisesCopy Anchor Link

A Wayne Enterprises administrator reviews Gotham Applied Sciences in the site switcher before configuring the site:

1. Under Operating rules, they require PDF attachments, parts and processes for inbound work, and leave Always quantity 1 off so jobs use the entered quantities.
2. On Customer statuses, they add an Invoice hold status for customers whose accounts need review. The status can warn on new jobs and invoice drafts while blocking invoice issue, send and delivery.
3. On Invoicing, they enter the site's legal seller details and logo.
4. On Invoice Fields, they add a Heat number field when customers need material traceability on their documents.

This example describes a configuration plan. The screenshots show existing Gotham settings; no site rules, customer statuses, seller details or invoice fields were changed for the capture.

Expected resultCopy Anchor Link

With entity settings configured, the selected site behaves the way you set it: inbound documents follow your PDF and quantity rules, customer statuses gate work across the five operations for the customers they are assigned to, and every invoice and credit note the site issues carries your seller details and custom fields. Each area is configured per entity, so repeat the setup for each site your organization runs.

Limitations and feature stateCopy Anchor Link

• Operating-rule switches save immediately. The current page has no production-job lock notice or separate save footer. Each change still requires the entity operating-rules configuration permission.
• These settings are per entity, not organization-wide. Values you set apply only to the selected site. A separate site starts from its own defaults, so configure each one.
• An invoicing profile must be complete before an invoice can be issued. Until the profile resolves a seller name and address, invoices for that site cannot be issued.

TroubleshootingCopy Anchor Link

• A change is denied. Ask an administrator to check your edit permission for that entity settings area. Do not repeatedly change a switch while a previous save is still running.
• Your changes affected the wrong site. These settings are per entity. Check the site switcher at the top of the app and confirm the correct site is selected before editing.
• An invoice will not issue. Open Settings › Entity › Invoicing and make sure the profile has a seller name and address; the page indicates which required parts are missing.

Related guidanceCopy Anchor Link

• Update entity settings: configure operating rules and customer statuses on the Settings page.
• Configure an invoicing profile: set the seller details, tax rate, and approval policy used on issued documents.
• Configure invoice fields: build the custom fields captured on every invoice and credit note.
• Manage customers: assign a customer status to an individual customer so its rules take effect.
• Roles and permissions: grant the permissions these settings pages require.