Build Your Equipment Catalog
The equipment catalog is the master list of specialist equipment your workshop has installed. When you link equipment items from the catalog to your bays, BayWise knows which bays are capable of performing which types of work — and the AI scheduler uses that information when suggesting bay assignments for jobs.
Without a configured equipment catalog, the AI scheduler treats all bays as interchangeable. This means a four-wheel alignment job could be suggested for a spray booth, or a full respray could be assigned to a mechanical service bay. Those suggestions are technically valid from a scheduling standpoint but operationally nonsensical. Linking equipment to bays eliminates that class of error and produces AI suggestions that are grounded in your actual workshop layout.
The catalog is also the reference point for any equipment-based filtering in your analytics — understanding which bays saw the most utilisation, which equipment types drove the most revenue, and where capacity constraints are emerging.
BayWise comes pre-loaded with 8 common equipment items (2-Post Lift, 4-Post Lift, Tire Machine, Wheel Alignment, A/C Machine, Diagnostic Tool, Brake Lathe, Scan Tool). These are sample entries to get you started — use them as-is, modify them, or add your own. The AI equipment detection feature can also identify equipment directly from bay photos and suggest additions.
Who can manage the equipment catalog: Location Manager, Org Admin, Account Owner.
Add equipment manually
Open Catalog Settings
From the main navigation, go to Settings → Catalog.
The Catalog screen has two tabs: Services and Equipment. Click the Equipment tab.
You will see any equipment already configured for this location, or an empty list if you are starting fresh.
Click Add Equipment
Click the + Add Equipment button in the top-right corner.
The Add Equipment panel opens on the right side of the screen.
Enter the equipment name
In the Equipment Name field, enter the name of the equipment item.
Use specific, descriptive names — not generic category labels. The name should be unambiguous to every team member who will see it in bay settings, job records, and scheduling.
Good names are specific to the equipment type and variant:
| Too generic | Better |
|---|---|
| Lift | 2-Post Lift |
| Lift | 4-Post Drive-On Lift |
| Tire machine | Tire Changer & Balancer |
| Spray booth | Downdraft Paint Spray Booth |
| Scanner | OBD Diagnostic Scanner |
| Straightening equipment | Frame Straightening Machine |
If you have multiple units of the same equipment type — for example, three 2-post lifts — you do not need to add separate catalog entries. Add a single catalog entry for “2-Post Lift” and link it to each bay that has one. The link from bay to equipment item tells BayWise that the bay is lift-capable.
Select a category (optional)
The Category field groups equipment in the catalog for easier management. Category is optional but recommended if your workshop has more than ten or fifteen items.
Suggested category groupings:
| Category | Equipment types |
|---|---|
| Lifts | 2-Post Lift, 4-Post Lift, Scissor Lift, Mobile Column Lift |
| Tires | Tire Changer, Wheel Balancer, Hunter Road Force |
| Diagnostics | OBD Diagnostic Scanner, ADAS Calibration Frame, Oscilloscope |
| Paint | Downdraft Spray Booth, Infrared Curing Lamp, Mixing Station |
| Body | Frame Straightening Jig, Spot Welder, Dent Puller |
| A/C | AC Recovery & Recharge Machine, Refrigerant Identifier |
Choose categories that reflect how your workshop is organised, not generic industry buckets. If your team groups equipment by workshop zone — “Paint Shop”, “Service Floor”, “Diagnostics Bay” — those are valid category names too.
Add notes (optional)
The Notes field is a free-text area for any details about the equipment that are useful for your team to know. Examples:
- “Requires 3-phase power — Bays 4 and 5 only”
- “Calibrated monthly by Bosch service contract”
- “Maximum vehicle height 2.1m — not suitable for high-roof vans”
- “Shared with Tire Bay — schedule conflicts need manual coordination”
Notes are visible to location managers and workshop controllers in the bay settings panel. They are not shown to technicians on the scheduling board.
Save
Click Save. The equipment item is created and now appears in the Equipment tab of your catalog.
The item is not yet linked to any bay. An equipment entry in the catalog with no bay link has no effect on AI scheduling — the link is what activates capability-aware assignment. Complete the bay link before moving on.
Link equipment to a bay
Once an equipment item exists in the catalog, you connect it to the bay where it is physically installed.
Open Bay Settings
From the main navigation, go to Settings, then select Bays. Click the bay you want to configure.
The Bay Settings panel opens.
Find the Equipment section
Scroll down to the Equipment section within the bay settings panel.
This section lists all equipment currently linked to this bay, and provides an Add Equipment selector.
Select the equipment item
Click the equipment selector and choose the item from your catalog that is installed in this bay.
For example, if Bay 3 has a 2-post lift and an OBD diagnostic scanner, you would add both items here.
A bay can have multiple equipment items linked. Conversely, the same equipment type can be linked to multiple bays — if you have a 2-post lift in Bay 1 and Bay 2, link the “2-Post Lift” catalog item to both.
Save
Click Save. The bay is now marked as having that equipment capability. The AI scheduler will treat this bay as suitable for any job type that requires this equipment.
Equipment in the catalog is only useful when linked to a bay. Adding an equipment item to the catalog without completing the bay link means the AI scheduler has no way to know which bay can handle that type of work. Always complete the bay → equipment link after adding a new catalog item.
Add equipment via AI detection
If you are setting up your equipment catalog for the first time, manually entering every item can be time-consuming — especially for a workshop with a large number of specialist tools.
BayWise’s AI Equipment Detection feature can scan a description of your workshop (or a photograph of the bay) and propose a list of equipment items to add to your catalog. You review the proposals, accept the ones that are accurate, and reject or edit any that are not.
See Use AI Equipment Detection for the full walkthrough.
Edit an equipment item
Open Catalog Settings → Equipment
Go to Settings → Catalog → Equipment.
Open the edit panel
Click the edit icon (pencil) to the right of the equipment item you want to update.
Update the fields
All fields — name, category, and notes — are editable. Name changes take effect immediately and are reflected in all bay links and any records that reference this item.
Save
Click Save.
Deactivate or delete an equipment item
Deactivate an equipment item if the equipment has been removed from your workshop but had previously been linked to bays and may appear in historical job records. Deactivating removes it from the active catalog list and prevents it from being linked to new bays, but preserves the historical association.
Delete an equipment item only if it was added by mistake and has never been linked to any bay. The delete option is available in the edit panel and is only enabled if the item has no bay links and no job history referencing it.
To deactivate:
Open the edit panel
Go to Settings → Catalog → Equipment and click the edit icon for the item.
Click Deactivate
At the bottom of the edit panel, click Deactivate Equipment.
A confirmation prompt will appear. Confirm the deactivation.
The item will no longer appear in the catalog’s active list or in the bay equipment selector. Existing bay links for this item are automatically removed.
Equipment catalog best practices
Use specific names from the start
The most common equipment catalog problem is vague naming at setup time. Once jobs are linked to equipment-capable bays, renaming catalog items requires updating those links — it is much easier to name items correctly from the beginning. If your workshop has a Hunter Road Force balancer and a standard generic balancer, enter them as “Hunter Road Force Balancer” and “Standard Wheel Balancer” — not both as “Balancer.”
Link equipment to bays before going live
Equipment with no bay link does not affect AI scheduling at all. After adding items to the catalog, complete the bay links before your workshop starts creating jobs in BayWise. Scheduling AI that lacks bay capability data will produce correct-looking but operationally unhelpful suggestions for capability-specific work.
Group by category if your catalog is large
Workshops with more than fifteen equipment items benefit from categories. Use the category field to group equipment by workshop zone or function. This makes the catalog easier to manage and makes the bay settings panel easier to scan when a location manager is updating bay configurations.
Review the catalog when equipment is added or retired
The equipment catalog should reflect the workshop as it currently exists. When a new lift is installed, add it to the catalog and link it to the bay. When equipment is decommissioned, deactivate it from the catalog. A catalog that drifts from physical reality will degrade AI scheduling quality over time — the AI will suggest bays for work they can no longer support, or fail to suggest capable bays that were recently equipped.
Sample equipment catalog (Tanaka Auto Service, Osaka)
The following table illustrates a well-configured catalog for a medium-sized workshop:
| Equipment Name | Category | Linked to Bay(s) |
|---|---|---|
| 2-Post Lift (Bendpak HD-9ST) | Lifts | Bay 1, Bay 2, Bay 3 |
| 4-Post Drive-On Lift | Lifts | Bay 4 |
| Tire Changer (Corghi A2054) | Tires | Bay 5 |
| Wheel Balancer (Corghi EM43) | Tires | Bay 5 |
| Hunter Road Force Balancer | Tires | Bay 5 |
| Downdraft Paint Spray Booth | Paint | Bay 6 |
| Infrared Curing Lamp | Paint | Bay 6 |
| OBD Diagnostic Scanner (Autel MaxiSYS Ultra) | Diagnostics | Bay 1, Bay 2 |
| ADAS Calibration Frame | Diagnostics | Bay 3 |
| Frame Straightening Jig | Body | Bay 7 |
With this catalog and bay linkage, BayWise will correctly restrict:
- Tire work to Bay 5
- Paint and respray work to Bay 6
- Frame straightening to Bay 7
- ADAS calibration to Bay 3
- General service work to Bays 1–4 (which have lifts)
Common questions
Can the same catalog item be linked to more than one bay? Yes. If three of your bays each have a 2-post lift, link the “2-Post Lift” catalog item to all three. The scheduler will then treat all three bays as lift-capable and distribute lift-required jobs across them.
We just installed new tire equipment. Do I need to rebuild the whole catalog? No. Add the new item to the catalog and link it to the bay where it has been installed. Existing catalog items and bay links are unchanged. The new capability takes effect for AI scheduling immediately after saving the bay link.
What is the difference between the equipment catalog and the service catalog? The service catalog defines what work your workshop offers to customers — services like Full Service, Oil & Filter Change, or Respray. The equipment catalog defines the physical tools installed in your bays. The two are connected through skills and bay capabilities: the AI scheduler uses service skill requirements to find qualified technicians, and bay equipment links to find capable bays. Both catalogs need to be configured for AI scheduling to produce accurate suggestions.
Does equipment need to be added to the catalog before I can link it to a bay? Yes. Equipment must exist in the catalog before it can be linked to a bay. You cannot create a bay link to an item that has not been added to the catalog first. If you are setting up both simultaneously, add all equipment catalog items first, then configure the bay links.