Getting Started

What is Essembi?

Essembi is the Continuous Improvement Platform for process manufacturers. It helps teams measure, analyze, and improve production performance—from day-to-day floor execution to OEE, quality, and long-term process improvement.

Essembi is typically deployed with help from Essembi professional services. The base platform (and optional modules such as the Production Module) can then be customized by your team during implementation and on an ongoing basis.

Overview of Essembi

Essembi includes multiple layers to help you manage your business:

Apps: Self-contained applications inside your organization. Each app has its own data, workspaces, teams, security, and optional modules.
Workspaces: A collection of views grouped for a similar purpose (for example, production, quality, or continuous improvement).
Views: A specific way of visualizing data (sheets, charts, boards, gantt charts, timelines) and accessing forms to create or edit data. Multiple views can be set up in a single workspace.
Tables and Fields: The fundamental components used to organize and store data. A table is a collection of related records; fields are the individual attributes on those records.
Data Models: Define relationships between tables to power views and analysis across Essembi.
Forms: Custom screens for creating and editing records on the floor or in the office.
Users: Each user has credentials to access organizations and apps.
Teams: Users are assigned to a team within an app to manage security and drive workflows.
Notifications: Alerts when watched records change or when automations fire.
Search: AI-powered search that lets you ask a question and get a quick answer or report.

Essembi's User Interface

Collapse / Expand: Expand or collapse the left menu. Essembi remembers your preference.
Home: A starting point for what you need to do, plus recent notifications.
Favorites: Objects and records marked as favorites (star icon), plus records with update notifications turned on (bell icon).
Create Record: Tables marked to “Include Creation Option in Menu.” Selecting one opens the default data entry form. The default table shows at the top level; use the dropdown for additional create options.
Workspaces and Views: Workspaces available to you appear in the menu, with top-level views underneath. The first view in a workspace is opened by selecting the workspace itself. Child views can be nested under a parent view using the Parent View setting in Customize View.
Settings: App settings such as tables, forms, data models, workspaces, teams, users, input devices, and more (requires Access Settings).

Search Bar

Essembi's search is powered by AI. Type what you want to understand and Essembi returns information or a report.

Notifications

When a watched record is updated, a notification appears here showing what changed, when, and who changed it.

User Settings

Dark / Light Mode: Switch between light and dark themes.
Account Settings: Update your name, picture, or password.
Apps / Organizations: Open other apps you can access, or organization settings (with the right security).
Help Center: Opens Essembi’s help documentation (this site).
Essembi Customer Portal: View the product roadmap or log support issues.
Logout: Sign out of Essembi.

Workspaces

A workspace is where work gets done in Essembi. A workspace is a collection of views that your team can customize.

Open Customize in the workspace header for options such as:

Create View: Create a new view in the workspace.
Customize View: Edit the currently selected view.
Move View / Copy View: Move or copy the current view (including to another workspace).
Customize Workspace: Edit the workspace name, icon, menu settings, security, and view list.
Automations: Set up automations for records in the current view (when permitted).

On sheets, you can also change columns, sorts, and pins on the live view, then click Save Sheet Layout to persist those changes.

View Types

Sheets: Spreadsheet-style grids for browsing, filtering, sorting, and editing records.
Charts: Dashboards with bar graphs, line graphs, metric cards, custom HTML, and more.
Boards: Kanban-style cards in columns for workflows such as corrective actions or roadmaps.
Gantts: Task lists with start/end timelines for plans and schedules.
Timelines: Schedule-oriented views for planning work across time (often used with production scheduling).

Chart views can also be published as rotating TV dashboards. See Published Dashboards.

Filters

All views can be filtered. Save filters for reuse from the filter dropdown, and optionally set a default filter in Customize View.

When a saved filter is applied, its name appears next to the filter icon. An unsaved/ad hoc filter shows as “User Defined.”

Breadcrumb / Record Actions

Records (and many pages) include quick actions such as:

Share: Copy a URL to the record.
Favorite: Pin the record in Favorites.
Turn On / Off Update Notifications: Get notified when the record changes.
Discussion: Open the discussion thread (post count shown when available).
History: View the audit trail of create/update activity.

Key Customizations You Can Make

Essembi is designed to fit your process—not the other way around. Common customizations include:

Tables and fields — Add fields, change captions, and model your process data. See Tables and Fields.
Data entry forms — Design floor-friendly forms with required fields, layouts, and scripting. See Data Entry Forms.
Workspaces and views — Build sheets, charts, boards, gantts, and timelines for each team. See Workspaces and Views.
Filters, sorts, and sheet layouts — Save default filters/sorts and use Save Sheet Layout for column order, pins, and widths.
Automations — Notify people or run logic when records change. See Automations.
Role-based security — Control who can view or edit workspaces, views, data, and settings. See Role-Based Security.
Input devices — Connect barcode scanners and RFID readers for shop-floor capture.
Modules — Add packaged capabilities such as the Production Module for work orders, OEE, sensors, and more.
Scripting and drill-downs — Extend forms, sheets, and charts with JavaScript. See Scripting Engine.

Keyboard Shortcuts and Tips

Navigation

Middle-click (or Cmd/Ctrl + click where supported) a button or link to open it in a new browser tab.
Collapse the left menu for more workspace on smaller screens; Essembi remembers the setting.

Sheets

Open the row More menu on the left of a highlighted row for archive, share, update notifications, history, and other actions.
Multi-column sort: Add columns to the sort order (including middle-click on sort controls / multi-sort affordances). Sort index numbers appear in the column header.
Resize columns by dragging the right edge; pin or rename columns from the column header More menu.
Use Save Sheet Layout when you want layout changes to stick for everyone with edit rights.

Date / Time Fields

Up / Down — Increment a date by a day, or a time by an hour.
Shift + Up / Down — Increment the date/time by a day.
A / P — Set AM / PM.

Long Text

Type * to start a bullet list, or 1. to start a numbered list.

Barcode / RFID

Configured input devices send values with prefix/suffix markers so Essembi can auto-process scans into fields, lookups, or custom handler scripts—without extra typing.

Audit Trails for Created or Modified Data

Changes made to a record via a form are tracked. Open History on a form to see who created the record, when it was first saved, and later updates.

Reverting Changes

In History, select a change and click Revert to undo it. The mod log records the reversion; history is not cleared.

Conflict Resolution When Users Simultaneously Update the Same Record

Multiple users can open the same record at the same time. Essembi merges saves when users change different fields (for example, one user updates category and another updates status). If two users change the same field at the same time, the last save for that field wins.

Deleting vs. Archiving Data

Essembi does not permanently delete business data from the database. Records are archived instead so you keep an audit trail and can still access historical information when needed.

Getting Support

If you get stuck, Essembi support is available in a few ways:

In-app chat (Intercom) — On desktop/laptop sessions, use the chat widget in Essembi to message the Essembi team directly. This is the fastest way to ask a question while you are working in the app. (The chat widget is not shown on mobile device sessions.)
Help Center — Open Help Center from the top bar for product documentation, including this Getting Started guide.
Essembi Customer Portal — From the top bar, open the customer portal to view the product roadmap or log support issues.

When you contact support, include the app/workspace you were in, what you were trying to do, and any error message you saw—that helps the team resolve issues faster.

Where to Go Next

Apps — Organizations, apps, settings, and modules
Workspaces and Views — Build and customize how teams work
Production Module — Manufacturing tables, OEE, and floor workflows
Role-Based Security — Control access by team
Team and User Setup — Invite users and manage teams

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