Cluster Distribution Rules
When an order arrives, Pickpad needs to decide whether to assign it to a single device or to a cluster. The Category trigger on each cluster controls this decision.
How cluster selection works
When distributing an order, Pickpad first finds all free devices for the relevant station. If any of those devices belong to clusters, it checks each cluster to see whether the incoming order qualifies for it.
A cluster is selected when the order contains at least the configured number of items from one of the trigger categories. For example, if a cluster has a trigger of 4 for the "Salads" category, any order with 4 or more salad items will be routed to that cluster instead of a single device.
If multiple clusters qualify, Pickpad picks the one whose capacity best fits the order size.
Category trigger
Each cluster can have triggers set for any number of categories. A trigger value represents the minimum item count from that category needed to activate the cluster.
| Trigger value | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Blank / not set | This category is not considered for this cluster |
| 4 | At least 4 items from this category must be in the order |
Only one category needs to match — the cluster is selected if the order meets the threshold for any of the configured categories.
Fallback behaviour
If no cluster qualifies for an order, the order is assigned to the next available single device as normal.
If a cluster qualifies but all its devices are currently busy, Pickpad falls back to the next best available cluster or a single free device.
Example
Given a cluster named "Salads" with two devices and a category trigger of 4 for the Salads category:
- An order with 5 salad items → cluster is selected, order appears on both devices
- An order with 2 salad items → threshold not met, order goes to a single free device
- An order with 5 salad items but the cluster is busy → Pickpad falls back to a single device or another cluster