---
alias: change-material-flow-step
description: "This operation modifies a material’s flow or step, requiring specific preconditions for successful execution"
---

# Change Material Flow/Step

:lock: Material.**ChangeFlowAndStep**

## Overview

This operation is used to change the **Flow** or the **Step** of a **Material**.

## Setup

No special setup is required other than to meet the preconditions of the transaction.

## Preconditions

* The **Material** is active and is not In Transit.
* The **Material** is Top-Most, that is, it has no parent.
* If changing the **Flow**:
    * The new **Flow** is active and enabled.
* If changing the **Step**:
    * The **Material** must not be On Hold.
* The new **Step** must be defined in the current **Material** **Facility**.
* The **Material** is not In Store, In Process, Consumable or Durable.
* The new **Step** is active.
* Either the **Material** retains the units in the the new **Step** or there are Unit of Conversion Factors defined for the **Material Product** and all of the **Products** of its **Sub-Materials**.
* The new **Flow Path** must be different from the current **Flow Path** and it must exist in the new **Flow**.
* If the **Step** is being changed, there are no active **Protocol** instances that contain the **Material** being moved and that have the property Inhibit Move From Step set to `true`.
* There must not be any required Future Action for the **Material**.
* There must not be any Material Time Constraint violated for the **Material** for the current context and transaction.

## Preconditions for Bulk

* In addition to the preconditions mentioned above, all **Materials** must:
    * Be either Top-Most or Sub-Material of the same Parent **Material**.
    * Have the same **Flow Path**.
    * Be in the same System State.

    !!! note
        All the Materials will be assigned to the new Flow and Step.

## Sequence of Steps

1. Select a **Material** that meets the preconditions listed above.
2. Optionally, review the **Material** details by expanding the Material section.
3. Choose a new Flow Path by selecting a **Flow** followed by a **Step**, or directly in the **Flow** structure. When altering **Steps**, the system will revert the **Material** state to Queued. In cases where the same **Step** is repeated in the **Flow** and the **Material** is in a Processed state (as depicted in the image below), you may opt to enable Force Queued State. Otherwise, the **Material** will stay in the Process state.

    !!! info
        It is possible to define the default value for the Force Queued State by editing the entry Context = `Material.ChangeFlowAndStep` for the Element = `ForceQueuedState` in the [[guielementdefaultvalue-gt]] Generic Table.

4. Select **Change** to complete the operation.

![Change Material Flow and Step](images/force_queued_change_material_flow_step.png)

!!! info
	- Depending on the Future Actions configuration, the Material may be put on hold.
	- If the Material is currently part of an Inspection Order, changing the Material Flow may invalidate the Inspection.
	- If the Material is currently in a rework or off-flow Flow and the new Flow Path does not belong to the current rework or off-flow Flow, you will be informed that the off-flow information will be cleared.
	- If the Qualification Count of the Material is greater than `0`, changing the Material Flow may invalidate the Qualification Check.