You can use change orders to specify and implement changes for item attributes, attachments, AMLs, and structures. For a specific change order you can specify changes for several items, route the change order for approval, schedule the effective date, and automatically implement the changes on the scheduled effective date. A change order also can be propagated to many organizations within your company; depending on how your company's organization policy is defined, a change order can be automatically propagated to other organizations in your company hierarchy whenever it reaches a particular status.

   To create a change order:

1. On the Create Change Order: Select Change Order Type page, select the appropriate Change Order Type and click Continue.

   User-defined change order types enable your enterprise to build categorizations for different types of change orders so that you can improve the accuracy of change orders with review and approval workflows, and automatically implement changes on a scheduled effective date. For example, for each change order type, there is a specialized workflow that best suits the review and resolution process required by the particular type of change order. Change order types best suited for your enterprise's product development processes are listed in the Change Order Type field. For details about your enterprise's change order types, contact your system administrator.

2. On the Create Change Order page, provide the required primary attribute information, as well as any required user-defined attribute information. Depending on the configuration of the change order type selected, you can specify a subject for the change order. Following are the possible subjects:

   • Item

   • Item Revision

   • None

   The person or group in the Assigned To field is defaulted based on the item role specified in the assignment rule for the change order type, or it can be explicitly entered. If no item is selected, you can enter a valid assignee name.

   Note: You are not required to select a subject for the change order. If you prefer not to assign a subject to the change order, select the null or empty value. If no item is selected, then your (the requestor's) name becomes the default value in the Assigned To field.

3. Depending on the configuration of the change order type selected, you may be required to provide data in any of the following sections (in addition to any user-defined sections or pages) when creating a change order:

   • Revised Items

     Change order revised items list changes to specific items. For each revised item you can specify changes to item attributes (both operational and user-defined), attachments, AMLs, and structures. The revised item changes are implemented when the change order is implemented either manually or on the scheduled effective date. You can optionally schedule item changes at the revised item level. You can specify revised item details such as Use-up item, WIP details, and corresponding dates. You can also create new item revisions within the change order and define changes for those revisions, as well as schedule changes by providing a scheduled date. Revised items can be promoted or demoted on an individual basis.

   • Change Tasks

     Change tasks help ensure that mandatory work is completed before a change order is implemented or promoted to the next status. You can use change tasks to create and assign work to individuals or groups. Each change task must be started after and completed before specific statuses. Before you promote a change order through its various statuses, its Mandatory change tasks must be completed. If a task is listed, but is not Mandatory, the change order can be promoted to the next status without completion of the task.

   • Dependencies

     The final approval or implementation of a change order may depend upon a particular Issue, Idea, New Item Request, or another Change Order being approved. A change order may also be required by or implemented by another change object. To ensure this relationship is captured in a new change order, specify what the change order is related to (for example, another change order or item), and then specify the nature of the dependency.

   • References

     You can specify that the change order references an item. A reference to an item may also include the item revision.

   • Workflow Approvals

     Workflow Routings or Approvals may be defined for any status of the change order based on the change order type. The change order type selected determines the workflow process steps defaulted in for each status. A workflow process may include steps to request approval, request comment, or FYI. For some steps you may be required to select an assignee. You can add additional workflow process steps and update a step to add Assignees if a workflow is associated with the status; however, you cannot delete any assignees or steps that were defaulted in based on the change order type. You can remove any Steps or Assignees that you add.

   • Attachments

     You can attach files from your desktop or a repository. You can also attach text or a URL. When you attach a file you can specify an Attachment Category to classify the file. The valid Attachment Categories are created by your system administrator.

     After providing the required information you can submit the new change order, which starts the Workflow for the first status and notifies the assignee. If you have not completed adding all the information, click Save and Continue. You can then add revised items and save the change order in Draft status. You or anyone with the appropriate role can submit the change order later on.

   • Organization Hierarchy

     Depending on how the change order type is defined, you may view and select from a list of valid organization hierarchies. If you select an organization hierarchy from this list, the change order can be propagated to all of the organizations within that hierarchy. Again, depending how the change order type is defined, a change order may also automatically be propagated through an organization hierarchy when it reaches a certain status. To view the organizations to which a change order can be propagated, click the Organizations tab on the change order's detail page.

4. After creating a change order, you can view and update the following information:

   • People

     You can directly add people to a change order and assign them a role. Depending on how the change order type was configured, a number of people may inherit a role on the change order (based on the change order type). You cannot delete inherited people or modify their roles. If you specify an item as the subject of the change order, all people with a role on that item may also inherit a role on the change order if the item role has been mapped to a change order role; to change the role or delete any of these people from the change order, their roles must be changed or deleted at the item level.

   • Action Log

     The Action Log displays all actions (and associated comments) executed against or posted to the change order in a threaded discussion format. You can respond to requested comments or reply to specific comments, thereby creating a threaded discussion within the context of the change order.

   • Workflow

     A change order is managed through its workflow with statuses and associated workflow processes. Each status can have one workflow associated with it, and that workflow is automatically launched when a change order enters into the status. You can explicitly promote or demote a change order to its different statuses (defined by the change order type). Change orders may automatically be promoted (or demoted) to the next status after the completion of the workflow in a specific status(as defined by the change order type).

     If you abort a change order, that change order's status is changed to Not Submitted for Approval, and all dates are reset. You can update and restart a workflow; if an aborted or updated workflow is restarted, a new instance of the workflow begins with the first step.

     If you add or remove people from a step in the workflow, be sure to Refresh Assignees--doing so ensures all new assignees are added to steps in the workflow before it is submitted.

   To perform an action:

See: Performing Actions

   To create a relationship:

See: Creating Relationships