Onboarding a Printer¶

Add a new 3D printer to FilaOps — from physical installation through your first tracked production order.

This workflow walks you through every step, in order. By the end, the printer exists in FilaOps, belongs to a work center, and appears in production scheduling.

Concepts: two registries, one printer¶

FilaOps keeps two separate records for each physical machine:

You must create both and link them for the printer to receive scheduled production orders. The Printer record is the "hardware identity"; the Resource record is the "scheduling slot."

The flow¶

graph TD
    A[Physical setup] --> B[Create / confirm work center]
    B --> C[Register printer — Printers page]
    C --> D[Add as resource — Work Centers & Routings page]
    D --> E[Test connection]
    E --> F[First production order]

Step 1: Physical setup¶

Before touching FilaOps, verify the hardware is ready:

1. Assemble and level the printer per the manufacturer's instructions.
2. Run the manufacturer's test print to confirm the hardware is working.
3. Connect the printer to your facility network (Ethernet or Wi-Fi) and note the IP address.

Step 2: Create (or confirm) a work center¶

Every printer must be placed inside a work center before it can receive scheduled work. If a suitable work center already exists, skip to Step 3.

Where: Work Centers & Routings in the sidebar.

1. Click + New Work Center.
2. Fill in the form:

1. Click Create Work Center.

Step 3: Register the printer¶

Where: Printers in the sidebar, then click Add Printer.

code,name,model,brand,serial_number,ip_address,location,notes

PRT-001,X1C-Bay1,X1 Carbon,bambulab,ABC123,192.168.1.100,Farm A,Bay 1
PRT-002,P1S-Bay2,P1S,bambulab,DEF456,192.168.1.101,Farm A,Bay 2
PRT-003,Ender-01,Ender 3 V2,generic,,192.168.1.150,Farm B,

Step 4: Add the printer as a resource in the work center¶

Registering the printer on the Printers page creates its hardware identity. To make it schedulable, you must also add it as a Resource inside the work center.

Where: Work Centers & Routings in the sidebar > click the work center card > Add Resource.

1. Open your work center (e.g., "FDM Printer Pool").
2. Click Add Resource.
3. If the printer you registered in Step 3 has its Machine Pool field set to this work center, a Quick Add from Assigned Printer dropdown appears at the top of the form. Select the printer to auto-fill all fields.
4. Otherwise fill in manually:

1. Click Add Resource.

Step 5: Test the connection¶

Verifying connectivity confirms FilaOps can reach the printer for status polling.

Where: Printers > All Printers tab.

1. Find the printer card. Click Test at the bottom of the card. — or — Click Test All (top-right of the page) to ping every printer that has an IP address at once.
2. A successful test shows a toast such as X1C Bay 1: Connected! (42ms) and updates the printer's status to idle.
3. If the test fails, use this table to diagnose:

The printer's status remains offline until a successful test or until the printer itself sends a status update.

Step 6: Run the first production order¶

The printer is now registered, placed in a work center, and confirmed reachable. It is ready to receive scheduled work.

1. Create a production order for a product whose routing includes at least one operation assigned to this work center. (Production > + New Order)
2. Release the order. FilaOps generates the operation queue for the work center.
3. On the Printers page, the printer card shows the queued operation in an Active Work block at the bottom of the card:
   • Production order code and product name
   • Operation status: Queued (solid yellow dot) or Running (pulsing blue dot)
   • Completed / ordered quantity
   • Count of additional jobs waiting in queue
4. When the physical print finishes, mark the operation complete from the production order detail page (Production > click the order > complete the operation).

Initial maintenance log¶

Log the installation as a maintenance event immediately. This establishes a baseline so future service intervals are calculated correctly.

Where: Printers > Maintenance tab > Log Maintenance.

• Maintenance Type: routine
• Description: "Initial install"
• Date: today

Future scheduled outages (e.g., a planned nozzle swap) can be booked with Schedule Window on the same tab.

Onboarding checklist¶

• [ ] Printer assembled; manufacturer test print completed
• [ ] Static IP assigned; IP noted and recorded
• [ ] Work center exists with type Machine Pool
• [ ] Printer registered on the Printers page (Brand, Model, Code, Name, IP Address)
• [ ] For BambuLab: LAN Access Code entered
• [ ] Printer linked to the correct Machine Pool (in the Printer form)
• [ ] Resource added inside the work center (Work Centers & Routings > Add Resource)
• [ ] Connection test passed — printer shows idle status
• [ ] Installation logged on the Maintenance tab
• [ ] First production order created and visible in Active Work on the printer card

What's next?¶

• Monitoring Your Printers — day-to-day status monitoring, maintenance tracking, and fleet-wide connection testing
• Running Production — create production orders and advance them through the operation queue
• MRP Planning — plan material needs across your scheduled production orders