S3Suite process guide
Use this guide to run a hardware product through S3Suite: first setup, engineering records, manufacturing handoff, lot production, field operations, and the feedback loop back into design.
Read this first
The gates between phases matter. They keep engineering changes, production files, lots, devices, and field issues connected to the same product record.
Shape
Design the product: documentation, schematics, firmware, BOM, mechanical files, tests, golden samples, and risks.
Scale
Produce the product: variants, Vault handoff, lots, devices, vendor packets, station testing, and production evidence.
Sustain
Run the product in the field: warranty, RMA, OTA updates, support tickets, knowledge base, health, and feedback loops.
Project team access
The same person can be firmware-only on one product, hardware lead on another, and full project owner on a third.
Org Settings -> Users
Use broad org roles such as Org Admin, Engineer, Production Manager, Operations, or Viewer.
Project Settings -> Members
Set project role, preset, suite scopes, module scopes, read/write access, approval, and allocation categories.
Permission levels
The user cannot access that module through project-scoped permissions.
The user can view the module but cannot change records.
The user can create, update, or delete records in that module.
Project settings fields
Owner, Contributor, or Viewer inside this project.
A starting point such as Firmware Engineer, Manufacturing Lead, Operations Lead, or Viewer.
Engineering, Manufacturing, and Operations access for this product.
Firmware, BOM, schematics, lots, RMA, support, and other module-level access.
None, Read, or Write per module.
Allows review or approval actions where the module supports them.
Allows Engineering artifacts to move to Manufacturing when paired with the right category.
Firmware, BOM, hardware, mechanical, testing, and documents.
Presets
Full Engineering, Manufacturing, and Operations write access; approve; allocate all categories.
Firmware write; documentation, testing, and Revision Control read.
Hardware, schematics, BOM, and Revision Control write; documentation read.
Mechanical write; documentation read.
Testing write; firmware and hardware read.
Manufacturing write; key Engineering files read.
Operations write; limited Engineering and Manufacturing read.
Read-only across Engineering, Manufacturing, and Operations.
Starts minimal; the admin chooses modules manually.
Atlas R2 team example
Org role: Engineer
Full project write access, approve, and allocate all production artifacts.
Org role: Engineer
Upload firmware, read documentation, testing, and Revision Control; no Manufacturing allocation by default.
Org role: Engineer
Edit schematics, BOM, hardware docs, and Revision Control; can receive BOM or hardware allocation.
Org role: Engineer
Edit enclosure, CAD, and mechanical docs; read documentation.
Org role: Engineer
Write test procedures and templates; read firmware and hardware context.
Org role: Production Manager
Manage variants, lots, tooling, procurement, devices, and allocated Engineering context.
Org role: Operations
Manage devices, warranty, RMA, support, firmware updates, and telemetry.
Org role: Viewer
Read-only project visibility.
External collaborators
Org role: Viewer
Manufacturing Vault read only.
Access rules
GET requests need Read or Write access on the module.
POST, PUT, PATCH, and DELETE requests need Write access on the module.
Allocation actions need Allocate to Manufacturing permission and the matching allocation category.
Older project team entries without explicit scopes continue to fall back to broad org-role behavior.
Process flow
Configure the organization before product work begins.
Finished when
Users, modules, vendors, and optional reference designs are ready before project records begin.
Create one product project and author the engineering record.
Finished when
Engineering records are reviewed, traceable, and ready to allocate to Manufacturing.
Move approved artifacts from Engineering to Manufacturing.
Finished when
Manufacturing receives the controlled version of each artifact instead of loose WIP files.
Prepare production variants, files, templates, and tooling.
Finished when
Every lot created from the variant inherits the files, test template, and tooling context it needs.
Plan lot purchasing and keep stock movements in the ledger.
Finished when
Procurement, delivery, and stock movement are tied to the lot and part records.
Run lot production and create device records from stations.
Finished when
Every unit is recorded as a device with lot, variant, firmware, and test history.
Operate shipped devices and support customers in the field.
Finished when
Operations records stay connected to the device and the lot that produced it.
Turn field learning into the next engineering revision.
Finished when
The team can prove which revision, lot, and devices received the fix.
Cross-cutting modules
Keep these records close to the product. They are used during setup, engineering, production, field support, and the feedback loop.
Org-level vendor records with category, contact, rating, services, certifications, and comments.
Lot-level BOM shortfall planning, quotes, purchase orders, delivery, and inventory credit.
Org-level stock with search, filters, detail panels, and append-only ledger movements.
Per-project jigs, programmers, molds, stencils, fixtures, cycle counts, and maintenance records.
Reusable design records that stay private to the org or move through public review.
Symptoms, resolution, corrective action, preventive action, categories, and tags across suites.
Notes, decisions, issues, ideas, milestones, and links for the running product log.
Lifecycle Map and Timeline views for understanding entities and dates across the project.
Grounded search, analysis, troubleshooting, and feature-suggestion agents with citations.
Per-resource, per-user, per-action history for changes across the platform.
Header notifications for RMA, firmware, production, ticket, warranty, and document events.
Global typeahead across projects, devices, documents, and firmware records.
Hard gates
Most work runs in parallel once a product is live. These gates keep production and field records tied to the correct product evidence.
Engineering allocates an artifact before Manufacturing uses it.
A variant exists before lots or procurement reference it.
An allocated BOM exists before the procurement plan resolves lot requirements.
A lot exists before stations and procurement attach to it.
A winning quote is selected before it is bundled into a purchase order.
A purchase order is issued before delivery is recorded.
Delivered purchase orders create inventory ledger credits.
A device exists before warranty, RMA, support, or OTA history attaches.
An RMA closes before warranty moves to void.
A public Reference Design is published before it appears on the public site.
Approval states
draft -> review -> approved -> released
Manufacturing reads released documents.
draft -> review -> released
Released schematics are ready for allocation.
testing -> release -> deprecated
Release firmware is used for manufacturing and OTA planning.
draft -> review -> approved
Allocated BOMs drive procurement.
pending -> internal_review_done -> review_done -> vendor_review
Releases pin reviewed commits.
in_progress -> completed
Closed lots preserve the vault snapshot.
open -> diagnosing -> resolved or rejected
Closed RMAs write back to warranty and learning loops.
open -> in_progress -> resolved
Customer replies reopen the ticket.
Sequential vs parallel
Engineering authors revision N+1 while Manufacturing builds revision N.
Manufacturing runs procurement for the next lot while the current lot is on the floor.
Inventory receives deliveries while station kiosks create device-built deductions.
Operations runs support, RMA, warranty, telemetry, and firmware campaigns across shipped revisions.
Square AI answers traceability questions across engineering, manufacturing, and operations records.
Supported surfaces
Primary surface for every module and role.
Revision Control linked-folder workflow for engineers using CAD locally.
No-login tablet URL for factory operators scanning devices and submitting tests.
Public customer ticket intake without an S3Suite account.
Public serial-based activation for shipped products.
Token-gated customer replies on support tickets.
Read-only fleet and ticket triage for teams on the move.
Published design browsing outside the dashboard.
Role reference
Full organization administration and all projects.
Engineering-capable user. Project settings decide the exact modules they can read, write, approve, or allocate.
Manufacturing-capable user. Project settings decide lot, variant, procurement, inventory, tooling, and vault access.
Operations-capable user. Project settings decide device, warranty, RMA, support, FOTA, telemetry, and knowledge base access.
Read-only user. Project settings can narrow visibility for vendors, auditors, temporary reviewers, or customer-facing reviewers.
Operating cadence
Engineers commit to Revision Control and operations checks the Health Dashboard.
Review risks, Square AI patterns, wishlist entries, bug reports, and Feature Tracker updates.
Rotate station tokens and close production records after the lot is complete.
Lock the Release before manufacturing handoff and keep old releases in the audit trail.
Minimum viable flow
S3Suite does not need to become a heavy ERP on day one. This is enough to ship a small product while keeping the lifecycle record intact.
When in doubt
If
Then
Move them into a Revision Control repo.
If
Then
Log it in the Project Diary or Knowledge Base.
If
Then
Allocate files to the Vault instead of emailing them.
If
Then
Create a Risk or Bug Report and link the affected RMAs.
If
Then
Add it to the Wishlist or Feature Tracker.
If
Then
Use Send to Vendor from the variant.
PDF reference
The PDF version is useful for onboarding, internal review, training sessions, and post-download email follow-up.
FAQ
It is the phase-by-phase workflow for running a hardware product through S3Suite from first project setup to engineering, manufacturing, operations, and lifecycle feedback.
Founders, program managers, engineers, production managers, operations teams, support teams, and implementation partners should use it before rolling out S3Suite.
No. The guide gives the process flow. Training helps each role learn the daily actions they need to run inside S3Suite.
Yes. RNDSquare provides S3Suite integration services for self-hosting, configuration, customization, team training, and process setup.
RNDSquare can help with self-hosting, configuration, customization, training, and process setup.
