Tool, and its physical units are tool inventory: individual, serialized instances of that model. One model can back many units. Tools are always serialized; there are no lot-tracked or untracked tools.
You curate the definition in the Tools Library and act on the physical units in Tools Inventory. Both surfaces live in the Supply Chain section of the sidebar. Procedure steps reference tools to record which unit an operator used.
Subtypes
A subtype groups tool models beyond their tool number. Torque wrenches of several models can share aTorque Wrench subtype, which lets a run step call out a class of tool without naming one model. You set subtypes in the Subtypes field on a tool model, and a model can carry more than one. A step’s tool field can then validate against a subtype to accept any unit spanning those models. For the steps, see Manage tool models.
Fields
A tool model carries the part fields plus a few tool specifics.
A tool unit carries the model reference plus its own fields.
Maintenance interval and status
The maintenance interval lives on the tool model; each unit carries its own last service date. ION adds the interval to a unit’s last service date to derive a Service Due date, and from that a Maintenance Status of Available or Unavailable. A unit past its service due date reads Overdue and Unavailable; a unit in an unavailable location also reads Unavailable regardless of its service schedule. If the interval or the last service date is missing, service due readsN/A. See track maintenance status.