Introducing AskBiz Factory Captures: Real-Time Production Oversight Built Into Your POS

What are Factory Captures?#

Factory Captures is a production logging system built directly into AskBiz POS. It gives your floor staff a simple, photo-first way to record what is happening on your production line — without spreadsheets, paper forms, or separate software. Every capture is timestamped, tagged to a staff member, attached to a photo, and queued for approval. The result is a real-time picture of your production floor that your supervisors and managers can act on immediately.

The four capture types#

AskBiz Factory Captures has four core event types, each designed for a distinct moment in your production process: - **Intake** — raw materials or components arriving at the facility. Staff photograph the incoming batch and log the quantity. - **Output** — finished goods coming off the production line. Staff record the completed units with a photo for quality and quantity verification. - **Wastage** — materials that are damaged, spoiled, or rejected. Every wastage event is documented so you can track loss rates over time. - **Dispatch** — finished goods leaving the facility. Dispatch captures close the loop between production and fulfilment. Each type has its own permission flag so you can assign exactly which staff can log which events.

Role-based approval workflow#

Captures do not become part of your production record until they are approved. This two-step workflow — submit then approve — is what gives Factory Captures its accountability layer. **Floor workers** submit captures from their staff dashboard at pos.askbiz.co. The capture goes into a pending queue immediately. **Supervisors** hold the `capture.approve` permission. They see all pending captures for their shift and can approve or reject each one with a mandatory reason recorded against any rejection. **Managers** have full visibility across all captures, approved or pending, and can override or re-open any capture if needed.

The audit trail#

Every action in the Factory Captures workflow is logged in your AskBiz audit trail. That means every submission, every approval, every rejection, and every override carries a timestamp, a staff ID, and the associated photo. The audit trail is accessible from your admin panel at **askbiz.co/pos → Audit tab**. You can filter by event type, date range, staff member, or capture status. This gives you a complete, tamper-proof record of your production history — useful for internal reviews, supplier disputes, and compliance documentation.

How it works on mobile#

Factory Captures is designed for the production floor, which means it needs to work on a phone. Staff log in to **pos.askbiz.co** using their unique PIN — no app download required, no email login, just a fast PIN entry on any phone or tablet. Once logged in, the capture dashboard is front and centre. Staff tap **New Capture**, take or upload a photo, select the capture type (intake, output, wastage, or dispatch), add any notes, and submit. The whole process takes under 30 seconds.

Who is Factory Captures for?#

Factory Captures is built for any business that has a production element — not just large manufacturers. The most common use cases we see are: - **Small food producers** — bakeries, sauce makers, meal prep operations that need to document batch output and wastage for traceability - **Electronics and component assemblers** — businesses that intake components, assemble products, and dispatch to fulfilment - **Repair and refurbishment shops** — already using AskBiz POS for intake, who now want photo evidence at every stage of the repair process - **Garment and textile producers** — tracking cut, sew, and dispatch stages with visual verification at each point If your business converts raw inputs into finished outputs — and you need evidence of that process — Factory Captures is for you.

Getting started with Factory Captures#

To enable Factory Captures, go to **Settings → Features → Factory** in your AskBiz admin panel and toggle on the factory sector. You will then be able to assign factory-specific roles to your staff from the **Staff** tab. Assign the `camera.intake`, `camera.output`, `camera.wastage`, and `camera.dispatch` permissions to your floor workers based on their responsibilities. Assign `capture.approve` to your supervisors. Staff can then log in immediately at **pos.askbiz.co** using their PIN and start submitting captures. Approvals flow through the supervisor queue in real time. No training materials needed — the interface guides each step.