Cross-site layout planning only becomes powerful when everyone involved can work on the same status. The Halocline Cloud makes exactly that possible – and with Halocline Free, anyone can join at no license cost. An account is set up in just a few minutes.
When Your Layout Travels Before It's Built
In many industrial companies, a layout isn't planned by one person in one place. Headquarters develops a concept for a new line, the plant in another country knows the hall, logistics plans the material flows, maintenance knows the local constraints – and the industrial engineers are supposed to bring all these perspectives together into one coherent shopfloor.
In practice, this usually happens via email attachments, USB sticks, or shared network drives. Most people know the result: different versions circulate in parallel, changes get lost, and no one is sure which status is the current one. Follow-up questions cost days, because first you have to clarify who has which interim version.
With the Halocline Cloud, this effort disappears. Your shopfloor sits centrally and is shared with the relevant people – whether they sit in the next office or at a site on another continent. And because everyone can take part for free via Halocline Free, collaboration never fails because of license limits.
One Shared Data Basis Instead of Scattered Versions
The Halocline Cloud connects your team's Halocline installations through a shared, protected storage location. Each person accesses the same current status, works on it further, and synchronizes their changes back. This creates a digital twin that your team grows on together – rather than everyone working on their own.
You'll find a basic introduction to the concept in the article on the Halocline Cloud.
What Cross-Site Collaboration Looks Like in Practice
1. Provide the Shopfloor Centrally
You store your shopfloor in the cloud and share it specifically with the people who should collaborate – for example, logistics at plant A, the industrial engineering team at plant B, and the project lead at headquarters. Anyone with access sees the shopfloor in their Halocline application. The exact steps are described in the article Share Shopfloors.
2. Sites Download the Current Status
Everyone involved can download the shared shopfloor and open it locally in Halocline. They don't start from some interim version, but always from the most recently synchronized one. How the download works and what to watch out for is explained in Download Shopfloors.
3. Work in Parallel and Synchronize
While the industrial engineers at headquarters refine the rough layout of the line, the plant on site adds the hall architecture and existing equipment. Adjustments are fed back into the cloud – at the next synchronization, everyone receives the updated status. You'll find the step-by-step approach, useful work area structures, and tips for avoiding conflicts in Edit and Synchronize Data.
So that all sites can get started without waiting, you need only one thing: access for every participant. Through Halocline Free, that access is free of charge.
Involve Everyone – Even Without a Paid License
Cross-site planning depends on as many relevant people as possible actually being able to look in. That's exactly what Halocline Free is for: with the free plan, every participant can create an account, install Halocline, and take part in a shared shopfloor – completely free of license cost, with no waiting time and no negotiation with procurement.
This makes it easy to bring colleagues from other plants, logistics, maintenance, or management on board, without a paid license being required for every access. Getting started takes only a few minutes: create an account, install Halocline, contribute to the shared shopfloor.
Anyone who goes deeper into planning – for example, import their own CAD data, manage multiple halls, or compare variants – then switches seamlessly to a larger plan. You'll find a full overview of all plans on the pricing page.
What Your Team Actually Gains
- A single source of truth. There is only one current shopfloor – no email attachments, no version numbers in the file name, no discussions about who has which status.
- Faster iterations. An idea from headquarters can be reviewed and commented on in Asia the next morning. Instead of weeks, only hours pass between change and feedback.
- More acceptance on site. When the plant plans along from the start, the layout isn't "imposed from above" – local conditions flow directly into the planning.
- A low barrier to entry. Through Halocline Free, even people without their own budget can contribute to planning or at least follow the current status.
- Less travel. Many discussions that used to require an on-site meeting can be settled together on the digital twin.
Who Benefits Most From This Use Case
Group structures with multiple plants benefit the most – but smaller organizations, where planning, logistics, maintenance, and production work in different buildings or shifts, also gain speed quickly. As soon as more than one person contributes to a layout, the step into the cloud pays off. And because participants join for free via Halocline Free, you can start small and expand the circle at any time, with no budget question.
How to Get Started
Talk to your Halocline contact about your cloud access, store your first shopfloor centrally, and invite the colleagues you want to plan with. Anyone who doesn't have a license yet registers for free in just a few minutes – and gets started right away with Halocline Free.
Get started directly at halocline.io/en/register.