Work steps: milestone and buffer
Two task settings with a big impact: the milestone marks a point in time instead of work, and the buffer creates room between the steps.
How to create work steps is shown in the Getting Started article. This article covers two settings on a step that often raise questions.
The milestone: a point in time, not work
Both settings sit on the expanded work step: in the sidebar go to Orders → open the order → tab "Tasks" → expand the step; by default Admins, Planners and team leads may change them. The "Milestone" toggle turns it into a marker point: "Material delivered", "Customer sign-off". A milestone
- has no duration — end equals start, shown as a diamond in the Gantt,
- does not count as work — it appears neither in the capacity nor under "My Work",
- does not block order completion.
The only required field remains the title (up to 200 characters).
The buffer: room between the steps
After each predecessor, the cascade adds its buffer to the follow-up date — the time for drying, retooling, transport. There are two fields that are easily confused:
- On the order: "Buffer between tasks (minutes)" — the default value for all steps in this order (e.g., 60 for one hour). Found in the "Overview" tab → "Master data" card → "Edit".
- On the individual step: the "Buffer" button — overrides the order default for this one connection only.
On a side note: if a step goes more than two workdays without a status update, Gantway flags it — "This task has not received an update for over 2 workdays."
Auch bekannt als: milestone, buffer, buffer time, task settings, drying time.