The first-time setup wizard is the guided onboarding flow EDGEBIC shows on a fresh installation, walking you through seven ordered steps from an empty database to a schedulable job. It exists so a new user never has to guess what to configure first. Each step embeds the real editor for that item, so by the completion step you have defined everything a schedule needs and can generate your first one.
EDGEBIC by User Solutions launches the wizard automatically on a new installation. This article defines it and walks the seven steps. For the deployment choices behind the very first step, see the sibling term data source provider.
How It Works
The wizard is a linear, seven-step flow. You move forward only when the current step passes a basic validation, so you cannot skip past something a schedule will need. You can always step back to a completed step to review or adjust it, and the wizard remembers the furthest point you have reached, so going back never loses your progress.
The seven steps, in order:
- Data source picks where the database lives and how to connect, using the same editor you would use later in Settings. Applying a database change here performs an intentional restart, after which the wizard resumes at the next step.
- Shift defines your working hours, for example a day shift running Monday to Friday.
- Product creates something to make.
- Work center creates a machine or cell to make it on.
- Routing defines the sequence of steps that product follows.
- Order creates a real job to schedule.
- Completion shows a summary and offers a jump straight to the scheduler.
Each middle step embeds the same full editor used elsewhere in EDGEBIC, in a simplified wizard mode, so you are entering real data rather than throwaway samples. A short prompt after each step offers to add another of the same item or move on.
A Concrete Example
Think of the wizard as the setup checklist a good machine ships with: mount it, plug it in, load material, run a test part. You would not skip mounting the machine and expect the test part to work. The wizard enforces that same sensible order for a shop.
Walk a fresh install through it:
| Step | You define | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Data source | Where data lives | Local single-file database (the default) |
| Shift | Working hours | Day shift, Mon-Fri, 08:00 to 16:00 |
| Product | Something to make | Widget A |
| Work center | Where to make it | Mill-1, two machines |
| Routing | The steps | Cut, then Machine |
| Order | A job | 100 of Widget A, due in two weeks |
| Completion | Summary | Button: go to the scheduler |
At the end, that first order schedules against the shift, work center, and routing you just created, proving the whole chain works end to end on a brand-new database.
How EDGEBIC Uses It
The wizard appears automatically the first time a fresh installation opens, before the main window, and it is the recommended path for any new site. Because each step reuses the real editor, nothing you enter is throwaway: the shift, product, work center, routing, and order you create in the wizard are the ones you keep working with.
On a single workstation you can accept the default local database and move straight through; for a shared, multi-user site you set up the server database right on the first step and let the wizard restart and resume. A brand-new database also arrives with one account already in place, the bootstrap administrator account, which is created before anything else and cannot be deleted. From here, the natural next reads are the sibling term connection string for the connection details, and how to change the database connection for changing the provider later. Browse more definitions in the manufacturing glossary.
Expert Q&A: Deep Dive
Q: We just installed EDGEBIC on a new machine and are not sure where to start. What does the wizard actually do for us?
A: It removes the guesswork from a fresh install. On first launch the wizard appears automatically and takes you through the minimum set of things a schedule needs, in the right order: it confirms where your database lives, then has you define a working shift, a product to make, a work center to make it on, the routing steps that product follows, and finally a real order to schedule. Each step uses the actual editor for that item in a simplified mode, so you are entering real data, not throwaway samples. By the completion step you have a live shop with one job ready, and a button that jumps straight to the scheduler to prove it works end to end. It is the fastest path from empty database to first schedule.
Q: Our IT team wants EDGEBIC on a shared SQL Server, not the default local database. Can we set that in the wizard?
A: Yes, that is the very first step. The data source step of the wizard is the same data source editor you would use later in Settings, so you can select SQL Server, enter the server and database name, choose Windows or database authentication, test the connection, and apply right there. Applying a database change triggers an intentional restart, and the wizard resumes at the next step afterward, so switching off the default local database is built into the onboarding rather than something you retrofit later. If a single workstation is enough for now, you can simply accept the default local database on that step and move on, then move to SQL Server when the team grows.
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