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Overview

Factories are the self-contained workspaces where your simulation models, entities, data pipelines, BOMs, plans, schedules, and results live. Dexter is also factory-scoped — each factory has its own conversations, memories, user files, scheduled jobs, and custom workflows, so context built in one factory doesn’t leak into another. For background on what a factory is conceptually, see First Login: Factories. This page covers the day-to-day operations you perform on factories once they exist.

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What’s Inside a Factory

A factory contains everything related to a single workspace:
CategoryContents
SimulationModels, snapshots, schedules, entities, constants, lookup tables, KPI queries, chart queries, time series queries, runs, experiments, Monte Carlo batches
DataPipelines, data insights (analysis containers with nested charts)
SupplyBOMs, configuration templates, configurations, configuration revisions
PlanningPlanning models, planning runs, demand/supply orders, inventory goals, resource capacity, custom constraints, custom objectives, production plans
LayoutFacility floor plans (feature availability depends on your account configuration)
DexterConversation history, memories, user files, reports, scheduled jobs, custom workflows
Everything in a factory saves continuously as you work — there’s no manual save step. Switching between factories loads the full context instantly.

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The Factory Selector

Click the factory name at the top of the main workspace to open the factory selector. The dropdown shows:
  • Search — filter the list by name
  • New Factory — create a new factory
  • Import Factory — load a factory from a .prdx file
  • Export Factory — download the current factory as a file
  • Your factories — grouped by recency (Today, Yesterday, Previous 7 Days, etc.)
Selecting a factory loads its full context: models, pipelines, BOMs, plans, results, and Dexter’s knowledge base all switch to that factory.

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Creating a Factory

From the factory selector dropdown, click New Factory, enter a name, optionally add a description, and click Create New Factory. The new factory opens immediately with an empty workspace.
Use descriptive factory names that identify the facility or scenario — “Building 7 — Current State” is more useful than “Test Factory 3” when you have a dozen factories in the list.
For a guided walkthrough of your very first factory, see First Login: Creating Your First Factory.

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Renaming a Factory

Open the factory selector and click the three-dot menu (⋮) next to the factory you want to rename. Select Rename, edit the name, and confirm. The rename takes effect immediately across the workspace — all references to the factory update to the new name. You can also ask Dexter to rename the current factory: “Rename this factory to Building 7 — Proposed Layout.”

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Deleting a Factory

Open the factory selector and click the three-dot menu (⋮) next to the factory you want to delete. Select Delete and confirm the action.
Deleting a factory is permanent and irreversible. All models, runs, results, pipelines, BOMs, planning configurations, Dexter conversations, memories, and uploaded files in that factory are lost. Export the factory first if you might need it later.
You cannot delete the factory you’re currently working in — switch to a different factory first.

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Exporting and Importing

Factories can be exported as .prdx files and imported into any ProDex workspace. This is how you back up work, share configurations with colleagues, or move a factory between environments.
  • Export — from the factory selector, click Export Factory to download a .prdx file of the current factory
  • Import — from the factory selector, click Import Factory and select a .prdx file
For full details on what’s included in exports, file format, and use cases, see Export & Import.

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Sharing Factories With Teammates

Factories are scoped to the user who created them. They don’t automatically share with your team, and even admins can’t see other users’ factories. To give a teammate access to a factory you built:
  1. Export the factory to a .prdx file
  2. Send them the file
  3. They import it into their own workspace
From that point, their copy is independent — changes they make don’t flow back to your version.
There is no real-time collaboration on factories. If multiple people need to work on the same factory, the current pattern is: one person owns it, others work on their own imported copies, and changes are consolidated via re-export when needed.

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Factory Scope and Isolation

Understanding what’s factory-scoped vs. organization-scoped helps avoid confusion:
ScopeWhat lives here
Factory (per-user)Models, entities, BOMs, pipelines, plans, results, Dexter memories, conversations, user files, scheduled jobs, custom workflows
Organization (shared)Team roster, enrollment settings, organization memories, integrations (configured at org level, accessible from any factory)
Dexter reads organization memories (set by your admin) in every factory, but workspace memories are factory-specific. Teaching Dexter something in Factory A doesn’t affect Factory B.

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Best Practices

  • One factory per scenario or facility. Keep your current-state model in one factory and proposed changes in another. This lets you compare by switching factories rather than managing multiple models in the same workspace.
  • Export before destructive changes. Before making major structural changes to a model, BOMs, or planning setup, export the factory as a backup. If something goes wrong, import the backup to restore the previous state.
  • Name factories for their purpose, not their date. “Packaging Line — Q3 Optimization” is easier to find than “Factory created June 2026” when you have a long list.
  • Clean up old factories. The factory selector groups by recency — old factories drop to the bottom but don’t disappear. Delete factories you no longer need to keep the list manageable.