A manufacturing sequence can use a previously defined state-machine model to make physical process order explicit.

Consider a simple clamp-and-drill cycle with states

IDLE -> CLAMPING -> READY -> DRILLING -> RETRACTING -> IDLE

Each transition should be tied to an observable process condition rather than merely to elapsed program steps. For example:

• IDLE -> CLAMPING after a start request and part-present confirmation;
• CLAMPING -> READY only after the clamp-closed input is confirmed;
• READY -> DRILLING when all drilling permissives are satisfied;
• DRILLING -> RETRACTING after the required depth or completion condition is reached.

Physical processes can fail to reach the expected condition. If the clamp is commanded closed but confirmation never arrives within the allowed interval, the controller should not transition to READY. A separate fault state can record that the normal sequence failed and define what outputs remain permitted.

Recovery is part of the sequence design. Resetting a fault should not blindly resume at an arbitrary step if machine position or part state is uncertain. The controller may need to return to a known safe reference condition before the normal cycle can restart.

State-machine sequencing therefore adds three manufacturing ideas to the general state-machine model:

• transitions are grounded in physical confirmations;
• timeouts and faults represent failed expected transitions;
• recovery must restore a known process state.

This structure makes automated cycles easier to review, test and modify than a collection of unrelated Boolean conditions.