Typical decisions across a factory
Each SmartFACT product makes its own kind of decision. Automation manages all of them in one place.
- LabelRules: which layout, values, copies and printer each job gets.
- KitProof and WorkSteps: which components go in a kit and which steps a unit needs.
- CheckStation: which checks a unit needs and when a supervisor must release it.
- FactorySpec: which options combine and what each configuration requires.
- OrderRun, ParcelOffice and RefillFlow: where an order, a despatch or a refill request goes.
- StoresFlow, RemnantRack and ReclaimStation: where material is stored and which pieces a job may use.
- ToolCustody, LotTrail, SmartFACT Data and SmartFACT Purchasing: tool issue checks, investigations, data mappings and purchase approvals.
Business decisions, not machine logic
These are the office decisions your team makes again and again, not PLC programs or MES control loops. Rules never drive a machine, and a selected step is never treated as completed work.
One definition used by several products
A classification such as ‘enhanced verification applies to customer 00017 or returned units’ can be defined once and used by WorkSteps and KitProof, each running the same approved version through its own release.
Explaining a held job
When a product holds work, its own screen gives the reason. Explain in Automation opens the rule version and recorded facts behind it, and the change that introduced the rule.
What SmartFACT Automation does not do
- Control machines, run PLC logic or schedule production.
- Infer that something was printed, consumed or checked.
Common questions
Is this a PLC or MES?
No. It manages business rules in SmartFACT products, such as checks, routes and approvals, not machine control.
What should we compare when choosing a rules engine?
Who can write and read the rules, how they are tested before release, how approval works, and whether every decision can be explained later from its recorded facts.
Related pages
Trials are by invitation and start with one agreed workflow. Scope and arrangements are agreed with you before access.
