Creating Engineering Change Orders (ECOs)

This chapter provides an overview of PeopleSoft Engineering ECOs and discusses how to create and maintain ECOs.

Click to jump to parent topicUnderstanding PeopleSoft Engineering ECOs

An engineering department needs to manage and document required item changes efficiently. You can use ECOs to manage the various activities required to implement multiple types of engineering changes. PeopleSoft Engineering ECOs enable you to manage and document item additions and BOM changes by giving you the ability to list items and associated information. You can also generate a report containing pertinent ECO information.

See Also

PeopleSoft Engineering Overview

Click to jump to parent topicPrerequisites

To use priority, reason, classification, and action codes when you maintain ECOs, you need to define the codes before you begin using the ECO-related pages. To have the system automatically generate your engineering change request (ECR) or ECO numbers, set up automatic numbering for ECRs and ECOs by using the Automatic Numbering page in the Set Up Financials/Supply Chain, Common Definitions navigation.

You need to define revisions prior to selecting them on the Items Affected or ECO Header pages. Or, if you are going to automatically increment revisions by using the BOM Mass Maintenance process, you need to define the revision scheme prior to running the BOM Mass Maintenance process.

You also need to create ECO approval types and their associated activity codes to employ engineering ECO types and ECO activities.

To attach mass maintenance codes to ECOs, it’s simplest if you have already defined mass maintenance codes with the BOM Mass Maintenance Code component. You could, however, create the ECO first, then create the mass maintenance code, and, as a final step, update the ECO with the mass maintenance code.

If you plan to use the embedded document management system to access ECO and ECO item documents, you can define what function buttons are available on the ECO document management pages by using the Documentum Component Options page.

See Also

Setting Up Manufacturing Business Unit Production Options

Managing Documents

Click to jump to parent topicCreating and Maintaining ECOs

With PeopleSoft Engineering, you can efficiently create and maintain ECOs, including the definition of top-level information and items affected, as well as workflow data.

This section lists common elements and discusses how to:

Click to jump to top of pageClick to jump to parent topicCommon Elements Used in This Section

Status

Represents the overall state of the ECO. Values include: Pending, Canceled, Denied, Approved, and Released.

You can change the overall status of the ECO with the Approve ECOs page.

When you add an ECO, the system sets the status to Pending.

Note. You must set this status to Approved before engineering BOMs can be transferred to manufacturing.

Type

Select the type of change. Values are:

  • Chg (change): The ECO makes a change to an existing item.

  • New: The ECO introduces a new item.

  • Imp (impacts): A changed or new item impacts this item (for example, a new or changed component item has an effect on the assembly item to which it reports).

    You can run the where-used inquiry by clicking the Search button, to determine the assembly items impacted by the new or changed component.

Click the View Related Links button in the Item ID column to access any one of these pages:

  • Add Rev: Click this link to access the Revision Maintenance page to add a new revision for an item that has no revisions.

  • Edit Rev: Click this link to access the REV Maintenance page to edit an existing revision for the item.

  • Add Engineering BOM: Click this link to access the EBOM Maintenance page to add a new engineering BOM for the item.

  • Edit Engineering BOM: Click this link to access the EBOM Maintenance page to edit an existing engineering BOM for the item.

  • Add Manufacturing BOM: Click this link to access the BOM Summary page to add a new manufacturing BOM for the item.

  • Edit Manufacturing BOM: Click this link to access the BOM Summary page to edit an existing manufacturing BOM for the item.

  • Add Engineering Rtg: Click this link to access the Engineering Routing Summary page to add a new engineering routing for the item.

  • Edit Engineering Rtg: Click this link to access the Engineering Routing Summary page to edit an existing engineering routing for the item.

  • Add Manufacturing Rtg: Click this link to access the Routing Summary page to add a new manufacturing routing for the item.

  • Edit Manufacturing Rtg: Click this link to access the Routing Summary page to edit an existing manufacturing routing for the item.

  • Item Search: Click this link to access the Item Search Criteria page and select a different item.

  • Master Rtg Where Used: Click this link to access the Master Routing Where Used Inquiry page to display master routing where used information.

    If the item’s routing is a master (or reference) routing currently being used by another item, this link is available.

BOM Type

Select a type. Values are:

  • Production: Use production BOMs as the basis for manufacturing assemblies.

  • Rework: You can create rework BOMs when you have a standard rework process, where you need to include additional components.

    As with production BOMs, you can define a primary rework BOM and up to 98 alternates, by creating BOM codes.

Routing Type

Select a type. Values are:

  • Production: Default routing type.

    Production routings can be used for standard manufacturing processes.

  • Rework: You can create rework routings when you have a standard rework process.

    Rework routings list routing steps that are commonly used, when reworking an assembly.

  • Teardown: The Teardown routing is used when you are breaking an assembly down into its component parts and returning the components back to inventory.

    Teardown routings can differ from the production routing, but can utilize any of the existing tasks or work centers defined for production.

Click the Attachments button to launch the multimedia object attached to the ECO.

Click to jump to top of pageClick to jump to parent topicPages Used to Create and Maintain ECOs

Page Name

Object Name

Navigation

Usage

Approve/Convert ECRs

EG_ECR_APPROVAL

Engineering, Engineering Changes, Approve/Convert ECRs, Approve/Convert ECRs

Change the status of an ECR, and optionally convert ECRs into ECOs.

See Processing ECRs and ECOs.

Maintain ECOs - Header: Header

EG_ECO_HEADER

Engineering, Engineering Changes, Maintain ECOs, Header, Header

Maintain ECO header information including items affected data. For quick entry, this page contains all the fields required on the ECO.

Email Log

EG_SS_EMAIL_LOG

Engineering, Engineering Changes, Maintain ECOs, Header, Header

Click the View Email Log link.

View the thread of messages for a particular ECO. If this page is blank, no emails have been sent regarding this ECO.

Vendor Access List

EG_SS_ECOVND_LST

Engineering, Engineering Changes, Maintain ECOs, Header, Header

Click the Vendor Access List link.

View a list of vendors that can have access to this ECO.

Header: Reason/Action

EG_ECO_REASONS

Engineering, Engineering Changes, Maintain ECOs, Header, Reason/Action

(Optional) Associate reason and action codes with an ECO.

Maintain ECOs - Header: Documents

EG_ECO_DC

Engineering, Engineering Changes, Maintain ECOs, Header, Documents

Associate, access, and manage pertinent ECO documents in the embedded document management system.

See Managing Documents.

Header: Attachments

EG_ECO_ATT

Engineering, Engineering Changes, Maintain ECOs, Header, Attachments

Attach multimedia objects, or files, that relate directly to the ECO. Once attached, you can view these objects directly from this page.

Items Affected: Detail

EG_ECO_ASSY

Engineering, Engineering Changes, Maintain ECOs, Items Affected, Detail

  • Associate one or more new, changing, or impacted items to a specific ECO.

  • Optionally add or edit revisions and EBOMs.

  • Select an ECO default mass maintenance code.

  • Define automatic revisions to be generated for parent assemblies.

Items Affected: Reason/Action

EG_ECO_ASSY_RES

Engineering, Engineering Changes, Maintain ECOs, Items Affected, Reason/Action

(Optional) Associate reason and action codes for each item affected by an ECO.

See Entering ECO Header Information.

Maintain ECOs - Items Affected: Document

EG_ECO_ASSY_DC

Engineering, Engineering Changes, Maintain ECOs, Items Affected, Document

Associate, access, and manage pertinent item documents in the embedded document management system.

See Managing Documents.

Maintain ECOs - Items Affected: Attachments

EG_ECO_ASSY_ATT

Engineering, Engineering Changes, Maintain ECOs, Items Affected, Attachment

Attach multimedia objects, or files, that relate to the affected item. Once attached, you can view these objects directly from this page.

Items Affected: Status

EG_ECO_ASSY_SCHD

Engineering, Engineering Changes, Maintain ECOs, Items Affected, Status

Review the engineering BOM and production release status for each item affected, as well as activate an ECO pending alert button on several related pages.

Workflow

EG_ECO_ROUTINGS

Engineering, Engineering Changes, Maintain ECOs, Workflow

Assign the ECO type, submit the ECO to workflow, define the ECO requestor, and associate related ECRs and ECOs.

Approval

EG_IC_ECO_REVIEW

Engineering, Engineering Changes, Maintain ECOs, Approval

Enter ECO approval information data and approve individual ECO workflow steps.

ECO Report

EG_ECO_REPORT

Engineering, Engineering Changes, ECO Report

Generate an ECO report (EGS1000).

Click to jump to top of pageClick to jump to parent topicEntering ECO Header Information

Access the Header - Header page.

ECO Number

Displays NEXT, if this is a new ECO and you are using automatic numbering.

Status

Displays Pending, when you add an ECR. This status represents the overall state of the ECR. Other statuses include Canceled, Denied, Approved, and Converted.

Description, Comments, Priority Code, and Department

Displays default values from the ECR, if the ECO was converted from an ECR. Otherwise, you must enter the information.

Not Accessible by Vendors

Select to block access to a specific ECO. Therefore, even if vendors have been granted access with the BOM Access by Vendor page in PeopleSoft Manufacturing, you can deny them access to a specific ECO.

Department

Select or change the department responsible for the ECO. Departments are defined in the PeopleSoft General Ledger business unit.

Schd Date (scheduled release date)

Enter a date to identify when the ECO is scheduled to be released to manufacturing. This date does not represent the scheduled effectivity dates or revisions for the assemblies being changed. When you run the BOM Mass Maintenance process to automatically create new revisions, the scheduled release date is the effective date of any created revisions.

Orig Date (original release date)

Displays the original ECO scheduled date. This field is display only; the system sets it the first time that you save the ECO.

Where Used

Click this link to access the Select Assemblies by Items Where Used page, where you can find the item information that you need to populate the Items Affected region of the page.

Items Affected

Type

Select the type of change.

Item ID

Select the changed, impacted, or new item ID. You can specify Make, Buy, Floor Stock, or Expensed items; however, you cannot specify PeopleSoft Supply Planning items.

If the request is for a new item ID that doesn’t yet exist on the Item Definition page, enter a placeholder item here.

Note. If you list an impacted item, you must also list the corresponding new or changed item that impacts it. You can associate multiple items with a single ECO.

From Rev (from item revision)

Enter the originating revision on which you are basing the change. You can add multiple ECOs that affect the same item revision.

Note. The from and effective revisions need to be defined with the Revision Maintenance page prior to using them here.

Eff Rev (effective item revision)

Select the new revision that is in effect after the change is implemented. If the item ID is revision-controlled, you can access this field; otherwise, it is display-only. You must have already defined this revision in the system, and the effective item revision can’t have a start date that is prior to the From item revision. After you enter the effective revision, the system displays the start date of the revision in the Eff Date (effective date) field.

If the item is not revision-controlled, you can enter the effective date for the change. Enter the new effectivity date for which the changes are in effect.

Both Eff Rev and Eff Date fields are for informational purposes only. If you make changes to the BOM, the component ID effective and obsolete dates and revisions on the BOM should reflect this effective revision or date.

Send Email to Vendors

Click to send email to vendors, if you have enabled external access to suppliers for PeopleSoft Engineering information.

The email contains one or two URLs. One URL sends the recipient back to the Header: Header page. A second URL sends the recipient to the Change Order Detail page.

View Email Log

Click to access the Email Log page, where you can view the entire thread of messages sent regarding the ECO.

Vendor Access List

Click to access the Vendor Access List page, where you can view the list of vendors that can have access to this ECO information.

BOM/Routing Information tab

Select the BOM/Routing Information tab.

BOM Chg (BOM change)

Select if the item that you selected will need a BOM change as a result of the ECO. This field, along with the BOM Type and BOM Code fields, is used by the BOM transfer and mass maintenance functionality to transfer BOMs between PeopleSoft Engineering and PeopleSoft Manufacturing. When you select BOM Chg and you later run the engineering transfer or mass maintenance functions, the system assumes that a BOM is to be transferred or changed.

If you clear this check box, the BOM Type and BOM Code fields are unavailable for selection, and Production appears by default as the BOM type.

BOM Type and BOM Code

Select values for these fields.

BOM Type

Select a value for this field. Values are Production (default) and Rework.

Rtg Chg (routing change)

Select if the item that you selected will need a routing change as a result of the ECO. This field, along with the Routing Type and Routing Code fields, is used by the engineering transfer functionality to transfer routings between PeopleSoft Engineering and PeopleSoft Manufacturing. When you select Rtg Chg, and you later run the engineering transfer function, the system assumes that a routing is to be transferred or changed.

Routing Type

Select a value for this field. Values are Production (default), Rework, and Teardown.

Routing Code

Select a value for the routing.

Mst Rtg (master routing)

Selected if the item’s routing is a master (or reference) routing that is currently used by another item; this check box is display-only.

If you enter a value in the BOM Code or Routing Code field, you are indicating that the codes associated with the item ID are impacted by the ECO. If either field is left blank, you are indicating that all BOM and routing codes for the item ID are impacted. If the BOM Chg check box is selected, this indicates that one or more BOMs for the item is impacted by the ECO, and the BOM Code field becomes available. Likewise, if the Rtg Chg check box is selected, this indicates that one or more routings for the item is impacted by the ECO, and the Routing Code field becomes available.

Indicating BOM and routing changes on the ECO has this impact in PeopleSoft Engineering:

Mass Maintenance tab

Select the Mass Maintenance tab.

When an ECO is impacting several BOMs (for example phasing out a component and adding a revised component), you can implement the actual BOM changes by listing the impacted assemblies on the ECO and associating a Mass Maintenance Code (MMC). This code specifies the details of the change. This tab enables you to associate the MMC with the impacted assemblies. After saving this information on the ECO, you can use Mass Maintenance by ECO to implement changes to the BOMs.

Mass Maint Code (mass maintenance code)

Select the code that will be the ECO default MMC. You can then use this default or select a different MMC for the ECO-affected items displayed. The MMC status appears as a display-only field.

Note. You can specify an MMC for an item only if you select the BOM Chg check box. You can change the MMC for an item at any time, except when the status for the MMC is Success.

Click the View Related Links button in the Mass Maint Code column to access one of these links:

Add Mass Maintenance Code: Click this link to access the BOM Mass Maintenance page to add a new mass maintenance code.

Update Mass Maintenance Code: Click this link to access the BOM Mass Maintenance page to update an existing mass maintenance code.

Rev Up (automatic revisions)

Selected by default if the associated MMC is set to use automatic revision and if the associated affected item is both revision-controlled and set to automatic revisions.

You can select this check box to manually automatically revision the item, if the item is set up to automatically increment the revision and the MMC is blank or the MMC used does not specify automatic revision. If you decide to automatically increment the revision for the item, then select this check box, and run the BOM Mass Maintenance by ECO process for the ECO in order to complete the automatic revisioning for the item.

You can also use this check box to automatically increment the revisions of higher-level assemblies. If you set Type to Imp (impacted), and the item is defined to use revision-controlled and automatic revisions, you can select Rev Up to indicate that this item’s BOM is to be automatically incremented to the next revision when the mass maintenance by ECO process is run.

Note. The Rev Up feature cannot be run with the mass maintenance by MMC process nor can it be run within PeopleSoft Manufacturing.

Click the Look Up Mass Maintenance Code button to find additional parent assemblies in which to automatically create revisions.

Rev Created (automatic revision created)

This check box indicates that the BOM Mass Maintenance by ECO process has been run for this ECO and the revision has been successfully created. This field is always display-only.

See Also

Sending Email to Vendors

Making Mass Engineering Bill of Material Changes

Click to jump to top of pageClick to jump to parent topicAssigning ECO Reason and Action Codes

Access the Header − Reason/Action page.

Reason Code and Action Code

Select reason codes and action codes. Reason codes reflect why a change is required. Action codes are based on engineering codes and represent the foreseen potential impact of the request. You can add unlimited reason and action codes.

Text

Enter additional reason and action codes.

Note. These reasons and actions apply to the overall ECO and are not item-specific.

Ref ECRs (reference ECRs) and Ref ECOs (reference ECOs)

Link an ECO to one or more existing ECRs or ECOs.

If the ECO was originally converted from an ECR, the system automatically populates the Ref ECRs field with the original ECR from which it was converted.

See Also

Defining Engineering Codes

Click to jump to top of pageClick to jump to parent topicManaging Header Attachments

Access the Header - Attachments page.

File Ext (file extension)

Select the type of media that you want to attach. You set up file extensions by using the File Locations page.

Document ID and Description

Enter the file name and description of the multimedia file that you’re attaching.

Note. Attachments have no integration or relation to the embedded document management functionality. They are most useful if you aren’t using the document management functionality.

Click to jump to top of pageClick to jump to parent topicReviewing Statuses

Access the Items Affected: Status page.

Engineering BOM Exists

In the Engineering BOM Status group box, this check box is display-only. The system selects it if an engineering BOM currently exists for the item ID and BOM code combination.

User ID and Copy Date/Time

Displays the user ID and the date and time of copy, if the BOM was copied into engineering. If you specified a BOM code for this item’s BOM, then the copy information refers to that particular BOM code. If the BOM code is blank, then the copy information refers to the last BOM code that was copied to engineering.

Engineering Routing Exists

In the Engineering Routing Status group box, this check box is display-only. The system selects it if an engineering routing currently exists for the item ID and routing code combination.

User ID and Copy Date/Time

Displays the user ID and the date and time of copy, if the routing was copied into engineering. If you specified a routing code for this item’s routing, then the copy information refers to that particular routing code. If the routing code is blank, then the copy information refers to the last routing code that was copied to engineering.

Release Date

Enter the release date. The release date is the scheduled release date of the item ID and BOM and routing changes to production, by using the Approve ECO page, the engineering transfer process, or the BOM mass maintenance process.

Note. Today's date initially appears by default as the release date. It can be modified until the BOM, routing, or both are released by using the Engineering Transfers process, at which time the Release Date field is updated with the actual transfer date and becomes unavailable for input.

Release Status

Select the production release status. Values are:

  • Canceled: The new or changed item was never implemented, and revised items are canceled.

  • Pending: The new or change item is in the approval process and is pending release.

  • Released: The new or changed item is released from the responsible ECO/engineering department and has been implemented.

    If the BOM or Rtg check box is selected for the item, the system sets the status to Released, when you transfer an EBOM or engineering routing to manufacturing by using the Engineering Transfers pages. In this case, you can’t set the status to Released manually. If the BOM and Rtg check boxes aren’t selected, you can enter the release status.

Orig Date (original date)

Displays the original release date for the ECO item.

ECO Pending Alert

Select to make pending ECOs visible within EBOM, MBOM, item revision, and routing maintenance pages.

When you select the ECO Pending Alert check box, the ECO button appears on these pages when information (such as item revisions) is maintained for the item with an ECO against it. When you click the ECO button, you can display the pending ECO, effective revision for the change, and associated text describing the change. Once the ECO is released, the ECO button no longer appears.

Click to jump to top of pageClick to jump to parent topicMaintaining the ECO Workflow

Access the Workflow page.

ECO Type (ECO approval type)

You can optionally associate the ECO with an ECO type. When you specify an ECO type, the ECO Activity field displays the first sequence and ECO activity, as defined within that ECO type. ECO approval types enable you to associate the ECO with a sequential routing of activities through which the ECO must move and which must be promoted prior to its completion. To promote or demote ECO activities, use the Promote ECO Activity page. You can use this feature independently of workflow.

If workflow has been enabled with the Engineering Options page, and the ECO type has a business process and approval rule set associated with it, then the ECO can be routed through steps defined within the approval rule set so that role users can approve, deny, or recycle an ECO. When the ECO is routed within workflow, the current activity appears. These role users access ECO approval processing by way of the worklist.

Note. You can’t change the ECO Type field once the ECO has been submitted to workflow.

Submit

If workflow has been enabled with the Engineering Options page, and the ECO type has a business process and approval rule set associated with it, you can click this button (which also saves the ECO) to initiate workflow approval processing as defined for the ECO type that you specified. Once workflow has been initiated, the system displays Submitted in the Submit WF (submit workflow) field, and the field is unavailable. If the workflow has been submitted, a list of users and related roles to which the workflow is submitted appears in the Approval Process scroll area. The list of users is originally derived from the ECO type and approval rule set associated with it. Once created, this list can be modified to include or exclude additional users for this particular ECO. As long as you don’t click the Submit button, workflow won’t be initiated. If workflow hasn’t been enabled, this field is unavailable for selection.

Requestor

Enter the name of the requestor in the Origination group box. The value of this field appears by default from an associated ECR if converting an ECR created the ECO.

Converted from ECR and Created on

If the ECO was created from a converted ECR, then this display-only check box is selected and the created on time stamp displays the time that the ECR was converted to an ECO. If the ECO wasn’t converted from an ECR, then the created on time stamp displays the current time by default and is display only.

After an ECO is submitted for workflow, the list of approvers is determined and displayed in the Approval Process group box. The person who submits the ECO for workflow processing is listed as the originator. You can add or delete approvers from the workflow Approval Process as long as the person has not yet approved the workflow entry for the ECO. Once the approver has taken an action, all the fields are unavailable for selection. When a new approver is added, the step for the new approver is set at the next step by the system. For example, if AMS2 is at step 2, and the Add button is clicked, the new approver is added with step 3. This means that the new approver is notified when all approvers at step 2 have approved the ECO.

When a workflow approver approves an ECO, the approver in the next step is notified with an email or worklist entry. The method by which each approver is notified depends on the workflow rules set up using the Workflow System Rules page. If an approver denies or recycles an ECO, then the approver in the previous step is notified, and the action taken is reset to Pending.

See Also

Structuring PeopleSoft Engineering

Delivered Workflows for PeopleSoft Engineering

Click to jump to top of pageClick to jump to parent topicViewing Approval Information Data

Access the Maintain ECOs - Approval page.

For multiple step approval, the Maintain ECOs - Approval page is visible only if all of these statements are true:

For single-step approval, the Approval page is visible if the current user is in the list of approvers and the approval action is not set to Approved.

You need to grant privileges to ECO approvers for these objects:

See Also

Setting Engineering Options