Assign installation requirements - ION Manual

Installation Requirements

Installation requirements are in beta. Review the best practices on this page before you use them.

You assign required installations at each step in a procedure. A run step can’t close until all of its required installations are complete, the same way it can’t close while a required field is empty.

Assign Installs to a Step

Open the procedure’s Steps tab, select a step in the step queue, then open the Assigned Parts section in the right rail. This is where you assign installation requirements to the selected step.

Parts can only be assigned to steps on build-type procedures. On other procedure types, the Assigned Parts section is unavailable.

The Assigned Parts section has two parts. The top shows the installation requirements assigned to the step currently selected in the procedure step queue. Below it, a part selector and mBOM version picker let you choose which associated part’s mBOM version you assign from, followed by that mBOM’s items. To add an assigned install to the step shown in the procedure window, click the + button next to the mBOM item.

The quantity you assign is the minimum installation quantity required to complete a run step.

Installation requirements assigned to a step appear in the upper half of the panel. You can partially assign an mBOM item to a step. Each assigned part shows the quantity assigned to the step, a slash, then the total mBOM quantity (for example, 2/5). While the procedure is editable, the assigned quantity is an editable field you can adjust directly. To remove an installation requirement from the step, click the remove control on its row in the assigned list. The requirement removes immediately. The control is available while the procedure is editable.

You don’t choose an mBOM version when you create a run — you select a procedure, and ION resolves the version. When Enforce mBOM parts assigned to steps is on, a run’s aBOM comes from the mBOM version pinned to that part on the run’s procedure. You set the pin while authoring the procedure; it can only point at a released version (not a draft) and doesn’t have to be the latest released version. If the part isn’t pinned on the procedure, ION falls back to the part’s latest released version. When the setting is off, pinning is ignored and a run always uses the part’s latest released mBOM version. Release mBOMs as needed before you use them in runs.

You can release a procedure for a released mBOM while you draft a future version of the same mBOM. Once you fully assign an mBOM item, it is shaded green on the mBOM panel. Turn on the Hide assigned toggle to remove fully assigned mBOM items from the view for a more streamlined assignment process. With Hide assigned off (the default), every mBOM item stays visible, with fully assigned ones shaded green.

Substitutes

The crossing arrows highlight substitutes on the mBOM, showing which other parts are listed as substitutes.

Reference Designators

Just as you set a minimum quantity to close a step, you can assign reference designators that must be satisfied before the step closes. Assign them per installation requirement from the reference-designator dropdown in the Assigned Parts section; the badge shows how many of the requirement’s designators are assigned. At run time, the operator assigns each installed unit to a specific reference designator, and the step can’t complete until every assigned designator has an install.

Install Inventory on a Run Step

You can install inventory from the run step itself, the same way you install inventory on the aBOM. You can’t complete a step until all run step build requirements have their minimum quantities and reference designators satisfied. The inventory list includes any available substitutes. To require mBOM parts to be assigned to steps before a procedure can be released, see Enforce mBOM parts assigned to steps.

Permissions

To create, update, and delete installation requirements on procedures, grant yourself a role with the CreateStepPartRequirement, UpdateStepPartRequirement, and DeleteStepPartRequirement permissions.

How ION Handles mBOM Changes

Your mBOM can change after you release a procedure. For more on changing build requirements, see Editing build requirements. The following changes don’t require a procedure revision:

The following changes require a procedure revision:

In every case, there is no effect on existing runs and aBOMs at the time of the change.

Best Practices

As-required, Continuous-usage, and Consumable Parts

Associate a build requirement to a step only when it will always be installed. Add a part as a 0-quantity build requirement to associate it with a step without requiring an install to close the step. A 0-quantity requirement doesn’t block step completion — use it to surface an optional or as-needed part, and record any actual usage in the step content. To make an install required, set the quantity to any value greater than zero. For example, if you always apply epoxy but the amount differs each time, set the requirement to a quantity greater than zero and note the amount used in the step content. When a part is not always installed, don’t attach it to a step. Instead, you can:

For example, if a shim is only occasionally required to level a plate, leave it unassociated in the mBOM and add it to the aBOM only on runs where it is required. If a run is blocked because a required install was assigned incorrectly, you can temporarily allow steps to complete without it:

  1. Have an admin enable Allow run steps to complete without required install in the run enforcement settings.
  2. Update your procedure and build-requirement associations following the best practices in this section to prevent future disruptions.