Substeps for assembly instruction documents

Below we will briefly review adding operation Steps to the Unisoft software and then introduce adding Substeps to those Steps. We assume that you have a basic working knowledge of the Unisoft software. If you have questions please contact us.

The Unisoft software can add Steps to part numbers on the PCB you are working on to partition them into different assembly operations, inspection operations, etc. These component part numbers in their Steps can then be assigned unique colors, instructions and more. Then process documents, kitting labels., etc. can be created.

assembly-instructions-documents-substeps-1

When the PC Board and BOM are first imported into the Unisoft software all Step numbers are defaulted to Step 1.

In the figure above at the bottom of the software display is the Smart Color window and to the right of the PART NUMBER field you will find the STEP field. In this field you may optionally add STEP NUMBERS to part numbers in order to create separate unique steps in the PC Boards assembly process (for example: Step 1 for Hand Inserts, Step 2 for Mydata/Mycronic assembly machine placements, Step 3 Chip Shooter component placement, etc.). To assign a STEP NUMBER to a part number at the bottom of the display double click on a part number and edit the STEP field with a step number.

SUBSTEPS: These Steps can further be broken down into Substeps. We will review the Substep process below.

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In the above figure we have an example of a Substep that was added. In this case the Step number is 5 and there are 11 components for this part number in this step and those 11 components are located on both sides of the PCB. In the right hand side of the figure we created Substeps A and B for this Step #5. Now Substep 5A includes the 3 components on the top side of the PCB and Substep 5B includes the 8 components on the bottom side. As a result the assembly documents, inspection documents. etc. created will be separated into two separate Substeps and used accordingly as required as part of the manufacturing of the finished assembly process.

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In the figure above is another example of a use for Substep. For instance, if the PCB was being assembled in a slide line and one of the part numbers being assembled had a large quantity of components and you wanted to distribute that among the slide line assemblers then you could use Substep to assign a certain number of components to each assembler.

In the above figure in this case the Step number is 1 and there are 16 components for this part number in this step and those 16 components are all located on the top side of the PCB. In the right hand side of the figure we created Substeps A and B for this Step #1. Now Substep 5A includes 8 components of the 16 components and Substep 5B includes the balance of the remaining 8 components. As a result the assembly documents, inspection documents. etc. created will be separated into two separate Substeps and used accordingly as required as part of the manufacturing of the finished assembly process.

The 2 figures below are the resultant assembly documents created for Substeps 5A and 5B. The first figure below, Substep 5A, includes 8 components of the 16 components and the second figure, Substep 5B, includes the balance of the remaining 8 components.

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In review, to add or change a Substep, left-click in the Smart Color substep column and choose one of the five letters A through E or blank. You can also type the letters (but you cannot type blank). If the combo box remains on the screen because, for example, you don’t select one of the choices, then you can get rid of it by pressing the Entry key or the Escape key.

If a Step has multiple part numbers and a Substep is assigned with the same letter A through E for different part numbers within the Step then those components using that same Substep will be join together within that Substep.