Master Controller

Your command center for directing warehouse workers — assign tasks, lock devices, and monitor progress in real time.

Owner Admin Lead

The Master Controller lets managers pre-assign specific tasks to individual workers or entire teams. Instead of workers choosing what to work on, you decide exactly who does what — and their device is configured automatically when they log in.

Why Use It?

Direct control — Assign scanning, picking, put-away, and other tasks to specific people.
Zero setup for workers — When a worker scans their badge, the screen is already configured for their task. No context selection needed.
Lock devices — Workers can only work on their assigned task — they can't switch to other screens.
Real-time monitoring — See who's working, who's idle, and track progress across your warehouse.
Team efficiency — Assign tasks to entire teams at once, with automatic conflict detection.

Page Layout

The Master Controller page has three sections:

Stats bar (top) — Five key metrics across the top of the page.
Create Assignment form (middle) — A collapsible form for creating new task assignments.
Workers & Assignments tables (bottom) — Two side-by-side tables showing worker status and all assignments.

Stats Overview

Five stat cards at the top of the page provide a real-time snapshot. They refresh automatically every 15 seconds.

Stat	What It Shows
Active Workers	Number of workers currently online (not offline). Includes active, idle, and paused workers.
Tasks Active	Assignments currently in "assigned", "in progress", or "paused" status.
In Queue	Unassigned tasks waiting to be picked up or assigned to a worker.
Items Today	Total items processed across all workers and task types today.
Avg Items/Hr	Average items-per-hour rate across all active workers today.

Creating Assignments

Owner Admin Lead

The "Create Assignment" form lets you define exactly what a worker should do. The form fields change dynamically based on the task type you select.

Step 1: Select Task Type

Choose from 8 task types. Each type shows different scope fields relevant to that workflow. See the Task Types Reference below for details on each.

Step 2: Select Warehouse

Optionally select a warehouse to scope location fields. When a warehouse is selected, the Location dropdown only shows locations within that warehouse.

Step 3: Choose Assignment Mode

Three options:

Specific Users — A multi-select dropdown appears. Select one or more workers. An individual assignment is created for each selected worker.
Entire Team — A team dropdown appears. All active members of the selected team receive an assignment. Members who already have an active assignment are skipped.
Add to Queue — No worker is assigned immediately. The task goes into the queue and can be assigned later from the Assignments table.

Step 4: Configure Scope

Based on the task type, additional fields appear:

Scanning — Auction, Vendor, Lot Mode (Lot Per Item / Manual / Specific Lot), Location
Picking — Pick List selection
Put Away — Source Lot, Target Location
Cataloging — Lot, Auction
Manifest Receiving — Vendor Manifest
Quality Check — Lot, Auction
Pallet Management — Source Lot, Target Pallet
Cycle Count — Warehouse, Zone/Location

Step 5: Set Options

Priority — Low, Normal, High, or Urgent. Higher priority tasks are suggested first when auto-assigning from the queue.
Target Item Count — Optional. If set, the assignment auto-completes when the worker reaches this count.
Scheduled Start / End — Optional. Time-box the assignment to a shift window. Expired assignments are automatically cleaned up.
Lock worker to this task — When enabled, the worker cannot switch to other tabs or change their context. They can only work on the assigned task.
Instructions / Notes — Free-text instructions shown to the worker on their device.

Step 6: Create

Click Create Assignment. The Workers and Assignments tables below will refresh immediately to show the new assignment(s).

Tip:

When assigning to multiple users or a team, workers who already have an active assignment are automatically skipped. You'll see a notification showing how many were created and how many were skipped.

Task Types Reference

Each task type maps to a specific warehouse workflow. Here's what each one configures and how the worker experiences it.

Task Type	Admin Configures	Worker Experience
Scanning	Auction, Vendor, Lot Mode, Location	Scan screen opens pre-configured. No context selection. Scanned items go to the assigned auction/vendor/lot.
Picking	Pick List	Pick list auto-claimed. Worker scans items from the list immediately.
Put Away	Source Lot, Target Location	Put-away screen opens. Worker puts items from the assigned lot into the target zone.
Cataloging	Lot, Auction	Worker reviews and enriches scanned items that need descriptions, photos, and condition codes.
Manifest Receiving	Vendor Manifest	Worker receives and checks in items against a specific inbound manifest.
Quality Check	Lot, Auction	Worker verifies item condition and data quality before export.
Pallet Management	Source Lot, Target Pallet	Worker organizes items from a lot onto a specific pallet.
Cycle Count	Warehouse, Zone/Location	Worker counts all items in a specific warehouse zone to verify inventory accuracy.

Workers Table

The Workers table (bottom-left) shows all active users in your organization and their current status. It refreshes every 15 seconds.

Status Indicators

Active — Worker is logged in and currently working on a task.
On Break — Worker has paused their assignment (taking a break).
Idle — Worker is logged in but has no active task.
Offline — Worker hasn't sent a heartbeat in 10+ minutes, or has logged out.

Table Columns

Worker — The user's name.
Status — Color-coded badge showing their current status.
Task — Badge showing the type of task they're assigned to (Scanning, Picking, etc.), or blank if unassigned.
Scope — Summary of the assignment (e.g., "Spring Sale / Goodwill / Lot: V-001").
Progress — Items completed vs. target count (e.g., "45/200"), or just a count if no target is set.

Assignments Table

The Assignments table (bottom-right) shows all task assignments. Use the status filter to switch between active, queued, and completed views.

Assignment Actions

Each assignment row has action buttons (visible based on current status):

Pause — Pauses an in-progress assignment. The worker sees a "paused" state on their device.
Resume — Resumes a paused assignment.
Reassign — Opens a dialog to select a new worker. The current assignment is cancelled and a new one is created for the new worker with the same configuration.
Complete — Manually marks the assignment as done. Use this when a task is finished before reaching its target count.
Cancel — Cancels the assignment entirely. The worker's device returns to normal mode.
Assign (queued tasks only) — Assigns a queued task to a specific worker.

Filtering

Use the filter dropdowns above the table to show specific assignment statuses. The "Active Only" filter is on by default, showing only assigned, in-progress, and paused assignments.

Important:

Cancelling or reassigning an assignment while a worker is mid-task doesn't cause data loss. Any items already scanned, picked, or put away are preserved. The worker's device simply returns to normal mode on their next heartbeat (within 60 seconds).

Worker Experience

Here's what happens from the worker's perspective when they have an active assignment.

Logging In

Worker scans their login barcode badge (or enters email/password).
The app checks for an active assignment from the Master Controller.
If an assignment exists, the app automatically navigates to the correct tab (Scan, Put Away, or Picking).
The screen is pre-configured with the assignment's settings — no context selection needed.

Locked Mode

When an assignment has Lock enabled:

The worker can only access their assigned tab and the "More" menu.
Other tabs (Scan, Put Away, Picking, Items) are grayed out with a lock indicator.
A persistent banner at the top of the screen shows the task type, scope, and progress.
The "Change Context" button is hidden — the worker can't override the assignment.

Taking a Break

Workers can pause their assignment by tapping the pause button on the assignment banner. This shows a "On Break" overlay screen. The admin sees the worker's status change to "On Break" in the Workers table. Tap "Resume Work" to continue.

Assignment Completion

Target count reached — If a target count was set, the assignment auto-completes when the worker reaches it. The worker sees a "Assignment complete!" message and returns to normal mode.
Manual completion — The admin can mark it complete from the Assignments table.
Expiry — If a scheduled end time was set, the assignment expires automatically. The worker sees "Your assignment has ended" and returns to normal mode.

Reassignment

If an admin reassigns or cancels a task while a worker is mid-task, the worker's device detects the change on the next heartbeat (within 60 seconds) and gracefully returns to normal mode. No data is lost.

Logging Out

When a worker logs out with an active assignment, the assignment is automatically paused (not cancelled). The admin sees it as "paused" and can reassign it or wait for the worker to log back in.

Team Assignments

Owner Admin Lead

When you select Entire Team as the assignment mode, ListerLeo creates individual assignments for each active member of the selected team.

How It Works

Select "Entire Team" in the Assign To dropdown.
Choose the team from the Team dropdown.
Configure the task type and scope as usual.
Click Create Assignment.
One assignment is created for each active member of the team.
Members who already have an active assignment are automatically skipped.

After creation, you'll see a notification like: "5 assignment(s) created for team (2 skipped)". Skipped workers are listed with the reason (usually "already has an active assignment").

Tip:

Team assignments work great for shift planning. Before a shift starts, assign the day's work to each team — scanning team gets their auction/vendor, picking team gets their pick lists. Workers just scan their badge and start.

Tips & Best Practices

Use "Lot Per Item" for high-volume scanning:

When assigning scanning tasks, "Lot Per Item" mode creates a new lot for each scanned item automatically. This is the fastest workflow for large receiving shipments where each item needs its own lot.

Set target counts to track productivity:

Setting a target count (e.g., 200 items) gives you a clear progress bar in both the Workers table and the Assignments table. It also auto-completes the assignment when reached, so the worker doesn't have to do anything.

Use the queue for pre-planning shifts:

Create assignments with "Add to Queue" before a shift starts. Then quickly assign them to workers as they arrive by clicking "Assign" in the Assignments table.

Check for conflicts before overlapping work:

If you assign two workers to scan items into the same specific lot, ListerLeo will warn you about the conflict. "Lot Per Item" mode has no conflicts since each scan creates its own lot.

Remember:

Workers without assignments continue to work exactly as before — they choose their own context and can access all tabs. The Master Controller is additive; it doesn't break the existing workflow for users who aren't assigned.