When you create collection elements, you define a list of values for them that users must select from when they enter quality results. This ensures that valid values are entered in fields (to ease data entry, enter a short code for the value when you define it).
When you use a collection element in a collection plan, however, the values are not copied into the plan, and you therefore must reassign some or all of them to the collection plan element, or create new values for it. This enables you to control how collection elements are used within collection plans.
For example: you could create a collection element called Color and define a list of values for it that includes the values red, yellow, and blue. You then have the option to use the Color collection element in a collection plan with all of its values assigned, in a second collection plan with only its red value assigned, in yet another collection plan with only its yellow and blue values assigned.
You also can define default values for collection elements. A default value is the most commonly used value for that collection element, and it is automatically entered when the user enters quality results. For example, if Color is a collection element, and you are collecting quality results for a product most frequently produced in Black, you can make Black the default value for the Color collection element. When the user enters quality results, the value Black is automatically entered in the Color field. You can override this value (see: Default Value Assignment Rules).
Default values typically are defined for attribute collection elements, although they are not limited to these. Collection element default values can be copied to any collection plan that contains that collection element. To assign them to the elements while collecting quality results, you can define default values at the element level as well as the plan level. Defining a default value at the plan level, automatically assigns it to the element while collecting results.