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Agile Product Lifecycle Management Product Governance and Compliance User Guide
Release 9.3.3
E39296-04
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8 Parts and Part Groups

This chapter describes how parts (items and manufacturer parts) are used within PG&C.

8.1 Parts: Items and Manufacturer Parts

Items and Manufacturer Parts are two base classes in Agile PLM that are used to create objects that represent the things that your company and its suppliers assemble into the products your company sells. They are therefore the ”business objects” for which compliance data must be sought.

The compliance data in parts is predominantly found under the Compliance tab, as well as some attributes under PageOne and PageTwo tabs.

Non-PG&C tabs and functionality of items and manufacturer parts are not included in this guide. How items and manufacturer parts work ”outside” the PG&C solution is fully documented in Agile PLM Product Collaboration User Guide.

8.2 Part Groups: Part Family

A part group is a ”container” that tracks the overall chemical composition for all parts of a particular type. If multiple parts share the same properties - for example, the same composition - you can define a part group with those characteristics. The parts (items and manufacturer parts) that are associated with part groups are listed on the Parts tab of every part group.

A part can only belong to one part group at a time. If a part is already associated with a part group, it cannot be associated with a different part group.

Note, however, that suppliers on a part group are not copied over to the associated parts; that is, parts do not inherit suppliers from part groups.

The Part Groups class has three subclasses:

  • Part Family subclass is used by PG&C;

  • Commodity subclass is used by Product Cost Management (PCM);

  • Item Group subclass is used by Product Collaboration (PC).

Depending on settings, the Part Groups class can generate objects that work independently in PG&C and PCM, or concurrently in both solutions. This manual uses the generic term "part group" (and "PG") to refer to objects from the Part Family subclass.

8.3 More about Parts and Part Groups

As suggested above, parts (Items and manufacturer parts) that belong to a part group give up their independence in terms of declarations. From the time parts are associated with a part group until the moment they are disassociated from it, it is not possible to add those parts to a declaration separately. Nor is it possible to import compliance data into the parts separately.

Specifications are forwarded from the part group as well but it is still possible to add specifications directly to the item or manufacturer part, regardless of part group associations.

When a part group is added to an item (that is, part but not manufacturer part), the active compositions of the part group are copied to the latest released revision ("rev") of the part, as well as all Pending revs of the item. (Revisions in Agile PLM are thoroughly documented in Agile PLM Product Collaboration User Guide.)

When a new composition is added to a part group - through publishing a declaration - the system looks for other compositions for the same supplier, same specification, and same Composition Type (or, type of declaration). If there exists an older active composition, then the older composition becomes inactive, and the new composition becomes active.

Also, when a new composition is added to a part group through a published (completed and released) declaration, that composition data is published to all manufacturer parts and items (latest Released rev and all Pending revs). The composition replacement logic runs through all manufacturer parts and items (by revs).

A part group can contain a combination of multiple items and manufacturer parts at the same time. The normal use case is that a part grouping either contains items or manufacturer parts.

  • For items, belonging to a part group is rev-independent.

  • For items, belonging to a part group is site-independent. (PG&C currently does not support Agile sites.)

8.4 Tabs and Attributes in Parts and Part Groups

Many attributes in PG&C appear in multiple PG&C business objects, as well as items and manufacturer parts. Because any given attribute may be defined only once in this manual but may not be defined in this chapter, simply search the PDF for the attribute you want to see.

For information about associating substances with an item, manufacturer part, or part group on a declaration, see "Working with the Part Substances Tables."

8.4.1 Title Block and General Info Tabs

The General Info tab is the "Page One" on part groups or manufacturer parts. Page One is called Title Block on items. Page One provides general information about this part or part group, including Name, Description, Lifecycle Phase, and Mass.

Changes you make to the weight information (Mass) on a part group's General Info tab will affect the mass of parts and manufacturer parts associated with the part group.

8.4.1.1 PageOne Attributes (Items>Title Block or Mfr. Parts/Part Groups>General Info)

The following fields appear on the Page One of items, manufacturer parts, and part groups:

  • Overall Compliance - indicates the compliance state of the part using the worst-case scenario and matched across all specifications associated with the part. This attribute is found on these objects:

    • Items > Title Block tab > Overall Compliance

    • Manufacturer Parts and Part Groups > General Info tab > Overall Compliance

On items, Overall Compliance is revision-controlled, that is, specific to the item's rev.

The Overall Compliance attribute also reads through to the objects below, although in these cases it is named ”Summary Compliance”:

  • Items base class (Parts and Documents) > BOM tab and Manufacturers tab > Summary Compliance

  • Changes base class (ECOs, MCOs, etc.) > Affected Items tab > Summary Compliance

On items, Summary Compliance is always from the Latest Released rev of the item; if there is no released rev, it is from the Introductory revision of the item.

  • Compliance Calculated Date - date and time stamp when the last rollup (scheduled or manual) was run

  • Mass - the weight of a part (item or manufacturer part) or assembly, expressed in systemwide UOM (unit of measure). Mass in Item Title Block is a "rev-controlled" attribute:

    • You can update the mass of an Introductory item through Item Title Block, if there are Pending or Released revs;

    • You can update the mass of a Latest Released Rev through the Title Block, as long as you have the right privilege;

    • You cannot modify the mass through the Title Block of a Previously Released rev, you can only ”update” it through importing compositions with mass, or by publishing a declaration for that item with the mass set through the declaration.


Note:

Please note that you cannot modify the Mass field in ECO > Affected Items tab if you are working in Java Client; you can however, modify it if you address it through Web Client.

  • Part Family and Commodity - On an item, the Part Family and Commodity attributes on the Title Block indicate which part group the part is associated with. Either of these attributes can be enabled, and both are editable. Both Commodity and Part Family attributes can be edited from an item's Title Block.

On a manufacturer part, only the Part Family attribute is available. The Part Family attribute can be edited from a manufacturer part's General Info page.

When you assign a part group to a part, the part is added to the part group's Parts table, and the General Info mass, specifications, active compositions, and corresponding substances are copied over to the part. In order to assign a different part group, you must remove the current value on Part Family attribute, save the changes, and then associate it with a new part group.

8.4.1.2 Items>Title Block Attributes

The following fields appear on the Title Block of items only:

  • Shippable Item - Yes or No: when an item is ready to go to market (presumably a top-level assembly), setting this field to Yes sets a "flag" that the system looks for in the scheduled rollups. (See "Rolling Up Compliance Data Using Internal Rollup.")

  • Exclude from Rollup - Items only, setting is Yes or No (Default for Parts class is No; Default for Documents class is Yes and the Exclude for Rollup field is set to invisible): setting to No means that the item will always be included in compliance rollups. When the value is Yes, it sets a flag that prevents the system from considering the compliance of the item (which it determines anyway) when determining the compliance of its parent. There can be items, for example, a document, whose compliance you are not concerned about, set to Yes.


Note:

Exclude From Rollup flag on item is supported by Compliance Rollup, External Rollup and Excel plugin as well as Substances and Weights Rollup features.

8.4.1.3 Part Groups>Make Available As Attribute

Another General Info field on part groups, the Make Available As field, plays a part in these settings.

8.4.1.4 Make Available As Attribute and the "Force/Identical" SmartRule

An attribute on General Info of part groups called Make Available As is not visible out-of-the-box. The Make Available As field exists for this reason: it provides a way for companies with both the PCM and PG&C solutions to keep their PCM commodities separate from PG&C part groups. If your company does not own Agile PCM, the Make Available As setting is not needed and is not enabled.

This setting can be set by the user who creates a PG&C object, but it cannot override the administrator's SmartRule called "Force Commodity and Part Family to be Identical." The Make Available As attribute may be visible if the "Force/Identical" SmartRule is set to No, as there may be reasons to create your object as a "Part Family-only" object.

These are some business rules around the settings of "Force/Identical" SmartRule and Make Available As attribute:

If the SmartRule is set to Yes, a part can belong to only one part group. If the SmartRule is set to No, an item can belong to one "Commodity Only" part group (in PCM) and one "Part Family Only" part group (in PG&C).

If the SmartRule is set to No and Make Available As is set to "Part Family Only" or "Commodity and Part Family," you can add manufacturer parts to a part group, while if Make Available As is set to "Commodity Only," you cannot add manufacturer parts to a part group. If the SmartRule is set to Yes, regardless of Make Available As value, you can add manufacturer parts to a part group.

Also note that when this SmartRule is set to No, when assigning different values for the Part Family and Commodity attributes, the mass, specification, active compositions, and corresponding substances will be copied from the part group object. When this SmartRule is set to Yes and both attributes are enabled, setting the value on one, automatically assign it to the other attribute.

8.4.2 PageTwo Tab

A feature called "specification mapping" lets you view the Result Compliance value that has been mapped (by the administrator) from Item/Mfr.Part Specifications table to a selected attribute Two detailed below.

8.4.2.1 Specification Mapping: Result Compliance from Parts' Specification Table Mapped to PageTwo Attribute

The administrator now has the capability of mapping a specification to a selected LIST attribute Two which points to the ”Calculated Compliance” selection list. The mapping is done per specification and per class: Parts, Documents, or Manufacturer Parts.

This mapping simply allows you to see the Result Compliance for a specification on the PageTwo of the part, rather than forcing you to go to the Compliance tab > Specifications table. See also: "Specification Mapping."

Another advantage is that, as a PgTwo attribute, the specification-specific Result Compliance is available (for viewing, exporting) on:

  • Items > BOM tab,

  • Items > Manufacturers tab, and

  • Changes > Affected Items tab.

Let us say that the compliance manager creates a Specification called "China RoHS." Then, for Parts class, the administrator maps the China RoHS spec to an attribute also called "China RoHS" (it could be an existing attribute or one that the administrator creates). The mapping means that for any object created from any subclass of the Parts class, the value of the China RoHS attributeTwo is copied from the Result Compliance attribute (on Specifications table) upon rollup.

The Result Compliance (RC) value of the specification is copied to the mapped PageTwo field if any one of the following events occurs:

  • a rollup is done on the Latest Released rev (LRR) of a part or document;

  • a rollup is done on a manufacturer part;

  • a rollup is done on a BOM: if a child is the LRR, its RC value is copied to the child's PageTwo field; or,

  • a rollup is done on an item that is associated with a manufacturer part: the RC value of the mfr. part is copied to the mfr. part's PageTwo field.

The copying of Result Compliance to a Part's Pg2 happens only for the LRR of the part, since Pg2 is always applicable to LRR. So, if the rollup changes the RC of a previously Released rev (or a Pending rev), that value is not copied to the mapped Pg2 field. Similarly, if that Pg2 field is enabled in the item BOM tab, it only displays the value corresponding to the LRR of the item.

The copy of the Result Compliance value to the mapped Pg2 attribute only occurs during rollup. If the part (that is, LRR of item, or mfr. part) has multiple specs, and each spec has a mapped Pg2 attribute, the values of all the mapped attributes are copied from the RC value of the corresponding spec during the rollup.

If the admin changes a mapping to another attribute, the system removes the previous mapped attribute and also ”erases” the old values from the Pg2 field. If you remove the specification from the Latest Released rev of the part, or from a mfr. part, the value of the mapped Pg2 attribute is also erased.

If you do a SaveAs from an item/mfr. part that already had a rollup, and already received the copied RC value, the new object will show the associated specification from the original object; however, because the new object has not undergone a rollup yet, it has no RC value and does not show the copied value on PageTwo.

The following lists administrator or end-user actions involving specification mapping, with their consequent effects:

  • Specification is mapped with a list > Result Compliance value is copied during future rollup;

  • The spec mapping is changed > Previous value is erased, new value is copied during future rollup;

  • Spec is mapped to blank field > Previous mapped value is erased;

  • Spec is removed from a part > If an item (Latest Released rev or Pending) or mfr. part and has a mapped value, the value is erased;

  • Spec is deleted from the system > The mapping is cleaned up (on administrator's Specification Mapping node);

  • Now deleted spec is "undeleted" > Administrator can define new mapping for the spec;

  • Composition is archived > Nothing happens (once a composition is Inactive, it is not rolled up again);

  • Compliance Rollup Task runs > All rolled up parts with mapped specs have new Result Compliance values copied to PageTwo.

8.4.3 Compliance Tab

The Compliance tab is central to PG&C compliance data-gathering. It holds two tables:

The Compliance tab reflects changes to the composition of the part or part group. Changes to this data are generally collected using declarations; you can also manually import composition and substance data into items and manufacturer parts (but not part groups).


Note:

Previous releases of PG&C used icons on tabs to indicate the presence of business objects; these are replaced by gray and red dots.

  • Grey dot = The compliance state of all compositions are Waived, Exempt, Compliant, or Not Applicable;

  • Red dot = The compliance state of one or more compositions are Non-compliant or Missing Information.

8.4.3.1 Compliance Tab > Specifications Table

The Compliance tab has a Specifications table. You can add or remove specifications from the Specifications table.

  • For internal specifications, when you add a specification to a part or part group and a compliance rollup (manual or scheduled) is run on the part, the specification is also added to the other part/PG on the BOM.

  • For external specifications, when you add a specification to a part or part group and an external rollup (manual or scheduled ) is run on the part, the specification is not added to the other part/PG on the BOM.

This is how the system automatically evaluates compliance of assemblies, even if the specification is not formally added to all the parts in the assembly. Specifications that were so added can then be removed with the Bulk Specification Removal feature.

External rollups do not rollup the compliance status, but do rollup the substance mass value. Therefore external rollups do not add any external specification from the parent down the tree to children.

8.4.3.2 Views Filter of Specifications

In a part's Compliance tab > Specifications table, there is a filter called Views that lets the user choose to display All Specifications or only Relevant Specifications, that is, specifications that are concerned with substances contained by the part.

8.4.3.3 Some Fields on the Specifications Table

  • Exemption - This field can be set by the user (roles and privileges permitting) if you determine that the part is exempt for this specification. Remember that Exemptions is a field on a specification's General Info page. When a specification is created, exemptions can be selected as a subset from an Exemptions drop-down list that represents all Exemptions of concern (this master list is created by the administrator for the Specifications class in Agile PLM). So, for a part, when you set a substance to Exempt, the values you see for Exemption on a part group's Specifications table are really coming from the associated specification.

For this reason, Declared Compliance is valid only if there is an associated specification in the declaration. Only when there is a specification, and the spec has exemptions associated (found in the spec's General Info), can you set Declared Compliance to Exempt: when you do, you are then prompted to select an exemption from the list.

  • Need Compliance Check - this field is set to No when no new data has come in since the last rollup; it switches to Yes when the system receives new data, indicating that a rollup could produce a new Result Compliance. When a new rollup is run (scheduled or manual), this field reverts to No.

This field is not visible to the user on items. It is visible on manufacturer parts and part groups (Compliance tab > Specifications table). Whether or not the field is visible to you, the system still recognizes it and reacts to it in items.


Note:

For internal compositions, both the archiving and unarchiving process cause the Need Compliance Check field on the part to be re-set to Yes. While that change is visible in manufacturer parts, the field is not visible in items. Moreover, the Archive and Unarchive action may change the compliance states for all specifications on the part or assembly. The best practice is, whenever you change a composition's Inactive or Active state, do a compliance rollup on the part or related assemblies.


Note:

While archiving and unarchiving external compositions, the Need Compliance Check field on the part is not re-set to Yes because external compositions will not be involved in internal rollup and external rollup.

  • Declared Compliance, Calculated Compliance, and Result Compliance are described below. These three fields are available at all levels, that is, at the substance level, material level, subpart level, composition level, and at specification level. Also, Calculated Compliance at a level will be Result Compliance of the level below.

Note that the Calculated Compliance at any level can be overwritten with Declared Compliance. Also, the Calculated Compliance value can be changed by a Process Extension created through the Agile SDK.

8.4.3.4 Bulk Specification Removal

The "Bulk Spec Removal" feature (BSR) allows removing specs across the BOM in a single operation. Note that BSR applies only to Items and Manufacturer Parts; Part Groups are not capable of Bulk Spec Removal, that is, removing a spec from a part group does not remove the spec from associated parts.

Here is the use case: PG&C's compliance feature can verify whether a product is compliant with a new (or planned, or upcoming) specification. By adding the spec to the top-level assembly (TLA), or indeed to any part/PG in the assembly, and running a compliance rollup, you learn that your product may or may not have problems with compliance to that spec. When compliance rollup is run on an assembly, the internal specification on that assembly is automatically added to all parts and mfr parts that belong to that assembly. Then, in this use case, and for a variety of other reasons, the user may not want to keep the propagated spec in the BOM.

In the case of removing a specification from an item that is not an assembly or contains no associated mfr.parts, you are prompted whether you want to continue, then the spec is removed with no further actions. Now, when you decide to remove a specification from an assembly or an item with associated manufacturer part, you will see the same prompt, then a Warning that asks you to choose "This Item" or "All," depending whether or not you want the spec removed from all items and mfr.parts on the BOM; this is the Bulk Spec Removal.

When you check All Sublevels, you are prompted with a message for you to choose:

  • If you want to remove the specification from this item only, check This Item only, then click OK, the spec is removed;

  • If you want to remove the specification from all items and mfr.parts belonging to this BOM, check both This Item and All Sublevels, then click OK, the spec is removed from all levels of this BOM.

More specifically, the spec is always removed from the current level of the BOM, that is, the level from which you start the BSR operation. Removal from the other levels is subject to these business rules:

  • Since specifications are Rev-specific on items, BSR on items only applies to the particular revision that is presented in the BOM.

  • If there is a value in Declared Compliance of the item or mfr.part, the spec is not removed from that object. Therefore, BSR will remove all specs from all associated parts except those items/mfr.parts that have a value in its Declared Compliance field.

  • When removing a spec, if the item is Latest Released rev or it is a mfr.part, the system erases the value of the mapped attribute for that spec. If the item is not LRR, the mapped value is not erased.

As a result of bulk spec removal, throughout the BOM, the Summary Compliance value is updated based on the overall compliance state from other associated specifications.

8.4.3.5 Compliance Tab > Declarations and Compositions Table

The Compliance tab also has a Declarations and Compositions table, which lists specification-supplier combinations that are associated with the part or part group.

8.4.3.6 Views Filter of Compositions

In a part's Compliance tab > Declarations and Compositions table, there is a filter called Views that lets the user choose to display Active, Pending, or Archived compositions. This feature is fully explained in "Archiving and Unarchiving Compositions in Items and Mfr. Parts."

8.4.3.7 Some Fields on the Declarations & Compositions Table

Fields on this table:

  • Mass Disclosure - the field that states whether the composition is Fully Disclosed, Partially Disclosed, or Undisclosed; see "Mass Disclosure."

  • Composition Type - the use of this attribute is detailed in "Role of Composition Type Field."

  • Source - this field indicates the source of the composition; see "Sources of Compositions."

  • Declared Compliance - allows an information supplier to declare the compliance state of the substance. A Declared Compliance value always ”trumps” a Calculated Compliance value. That is, the Result Compliance value field always take the state found in the Declared Compliance field. If the Declared Compliance field is blank, the value in Calculated Compliance is copied to the Result Compliance field during rollup.

  • Calculated Compliance - This Read-only value is derived from the system's logic: the Calculated Compliance of one level in a BOS or BOM is most likely the same value as the Result Compliance of the next lower level - unless there is a different value in the Declared Compliance field that is parallel to Calculated Compliance. Also, Calculated Compliance at a level will be Result Compliance of the level below.


Note:

The Calculated Compliance at any level can be overwritten with Declared Compliance.


Note:

The Calculated Compliance value can be changed by a Process Extension created through the Agile SDK.

  • Result Compliance - this field simply reflects the "winner" for that level of the BOS or BOM. If there is a Declared Compliance value on that level, that becomes the Result Compliance value. If there is no Declared Compliance value, the Calculated Compliance value on that level becomes the Result Compliance. Finally, the Result Compliance of a level of BOS or BOM becomes the Calculated Compliance of the next higher level.

    For information about tracking changes to this field from compliance rollups, see "Tracking Compliance Changes through History."


    Note:

    When importing compositions and composition substances into items or manufacturer parts, at the end of import, the system performs a composition rollup. When the mass on the composition is blank (during import), the system uses the Cover Page Mass to do a composition rollup at the end of the import.

8.4.3.8 View Substances Button

On the Declarations and Compositions table, click the View Substances button to bring up the Substances View table. (The View Substances button appears only if the user has Read privilege for the Composition Type attribute.)

For each part and part group, the Substances View table lists associated substance composition (providing, of course, that the part/PG is associated with substances).

  • Reporting - A read-only field, the value comes from the Reporting field on the associated specification Substance table for the same substance. The rollup only looks for substances that are marked as Mandatory in the spec.

  • Mass (or Declared Mass) - can be used by the supplier to declare the Mass values at each level of the BOS.

  • PPM (or Declared PPM) - if enabled, can be used by the supplier to enter the PPM values directly. It supersedes the Calculated PPM in the rest of the rollups.

  • Threshold Mass PPM - A read-only field, its value comes from the Threshold Mass PPM field on the associated specification's Substances table for the same substance. The "threshold mass PPM" describes the maximum quantity in parts-per-million of a substance allowed in order to be within compliance.

  • Calculated PPM - the PPM as the result of the division of the mass of two levels.

  • Calculated Mass - If Part Mass and Declared PPM of the substance is available, the calculated mass equals to part mass multiplied by declared PPM of the substance.

  • Result PPM - if there is a Declared PPM value for the substance, that becomes the Result PPM value. If there is no Declared PPM value, the Calculated PPM value for the substance becomes the Result PPM value.

  • Result Mass - if there is a Declared Mass value for the substance, that becomes the Result Mass value. If there is no Declared Mass value, the Calculated Mass value for the substance becomes the Result Mass value.

  • Intentionally Added and Spec Intentionally Added are discussed in "Intentional and Non-intentional Substances and Related Attributes.".

  • User-entered CAS Number - The information supplier can enter a value on a declaration or a regular user on a part or part group. These are used by the compliance manager to ascertain the precise substance the supplier is referring to.


Note:

Values are calculated for all appropriate fields whether or not those fields are visible to you (enabled by the administrator). In PG&C, the administrator can choose to make some things not-visible, but in rollups the system is ”indifferent” to that factor, that is, it always takes non-visible fields into account. If you think there is information that is not visible that you need to see, see your administrator.

8.4.3.9 Scale Property in Calculated PPM and Result PPM

As an example of these fields in use, let us say the Scale property for Calculated PPM and Result PPM is set to 2 in Administrator, which permits two decimal places. In this case, you could see a value of 333.33 in these fields on declaration <Parts/PGs> BOS tree for a substance, and even if Threshold PPM is equal to 333.33, the system could identify it as Not Compliant because the value (that it perceives in the database) for Calculated PPM and Result PPM could be 333.333333333, which is slightly higher than Threshold PPM at 333.33.

If you run into this situation, you must advise the administrator to set the scale property with a higher value for Calculated PPM and Result PPM on the Substances tables.

Also, if the Threshold PPM is set to 100 and the Calculated PPM and Result PPM are calculated to be 100.0001999, the system still makes the substance Non-Compliant because the calculated PPM is higher than the Threshold PPM, however small the discrepancy. Again, in this case, if the scale on Calculated PPM is set to 2, you would see 100.00 in the field, whereas the value in the database is slightly but inescapably higher.

8.4.3.10 Modifying the Declarations and Compositions Table

To add compositions to the part/PG Compliance tab > Declarations and Compositions table, you can follow the original RFI process, that is, (1) create and send a declaration to a supplier, (2) receive and verify the completed declaration, and (3) publish (release) it. You can also manually import composition and substance data into items and manufacturer parts (but not part groups).

8.4.4 Suppliers Tab

The Suppliers tab lists the suppliers who carry this part or part group. The Suppliers tab enables you to add, edit, or remove suppliers on a part or part group. Parts can be tracked with regard to their approved suppliers.

Note that you can also map the Supplier attribute under Suppliers tab to P2 attributes.

If there are suppliers associated with a part or part group, when creating a declaration from a part or part group Actions menu, the suppliers from Suppliers tab of the part or part group are displayed in a drop-down list for convenience. You may select any one of these suppliers or search for and select another supplier in the system.

8.4.5 Part Groups > Parts Tab

A part group's Parts tab lists all parts and manufacturer parts associated with the part group. The association between part groups and parts is important because some properties of the part group are carried over to the associated parts.

Changes on a part group's composition through the declaration process, impacts all parts and manufacturer parts on the Parts tab of the part group.

You cannot add substances to a part group's Parts tab, you can add only parts and manufacturer parts. (If your company is set up for "Commodity-only" objects, you can import only items, not manufacturer parts. "Commodity-only" objects can have only parts on the Parts tab. These and other business rules are detailed in Make Available As Attribute and the "Force/Identical" SmartRule.)

  • Conversion Factor - The items and manufacturer parts belonging to a part group have a conversion factor that is used to convert data such as Mass and Substances Content from the part group to its member parts.

To describe how the conversion factor works, let a part group describe a series of cable, made of the same materials and available from supplier(s) in a variety of lengths. The part group contains the data that defines the ”unit” length of cable to be 2 feet long. The part group object then lists cables of 2 ft, 6 ft, and 10 ft in length. So, the 2-ft cable has a conversion factor of 1 in terms of its mass and hazardous substances content, the 6-ft cable has a conversion factor of 3, while the 10-ft cable has a conversion factor of 5.


Note:

Conversion Factor in part groups is a different idea from Conversion Factor in substance groups. See "Substance Groups > Substances Tab > Conversion Factor."

8.5 Creating Part Groups in PG&C

Part Groups let users categorize parts for compliance and sourcing processes, and collect information on restricted substances for part groups.

Part Groups can be associated with items - parts and documents - and manufacturer parts. A part group is a way of grouping similar types of parts. By associating each part with a part group, your users can distribute Requests For Information (RFIs) to suppliers based on the part groups they offer.

As with the other PG&C objects, part groups are created and modified in Web Client. You can search for part groups in Java Client, but not create them.

Part Groups can be active or inactive (Lifecycle Phase). Part Groups are not routable, so they do not have workflows (the only routable PG&C object is the Declaration). They are simply used to categorize groups of parts.

To create a part group:

  1. Click the Create New drop-down button to activate the menu.

  2. Click the Part Groups link.

  3. In the Create New Part Groups dialog, click the drop-down arrow next to the Type: field. From the list of subclasses, select Part Family. The administrator may have created additional subclasses of part group.

  4. Enter the desired information in the Name: field.

  5. The Make Available As field may appear (pre-populated according to administrator choices).

  6. Click Save. The new part group object appears with the General Info tab selected.

  7. After the part group object is created, it can be modified at any time. This task continues with steps to add appropriate objects.

    Open the part group, click Edit: to add information and populate enabled fields under the various tabs.

    To add parts to the part group, click the Parts tab, then click the Add button.

    Click the Search to add icon to add existing parts in the Parts Search dialog.

    Or click the Create to add icon to create a new part object that will be added to the part group.

    Click to select parts to add, and hit Enter; or you can double-click a part to add it. You may run additional searches after this, too.

  8. To add specifications to the part group, click the Compliance tab. In the area of Specifications table, click the Add button.

    Use the same set of steps (as adding parts) to search for and associate specifications to the part group.

  9. On the Suppliers tab, use the same set of steps to search for and associate suppliers to the part group.

  10. To add attachments, click the Attachments tab. Choose from the Add menu Files, URLs, or By Search. When you are finished adding attachments, click Finish.

  11. When your modifications are complete, click Save.

8.6 Mapping Feature in Parts and Part Groups

The mapping feature is available for use in to Page Two (class-level) and Page Three (subclass level) tabs in items, manufacturer parts, and part groups.


Note:

Although PG&C supports attribute versioning (attributes on Page Two and Page Three are change-controlled), mapped attributes on Page Two cannot be change-controlled.

Mapping of attributes is useful for some Page Two/Page Three attributes in parts and part groups. Mapping lets you see some values from the Compliance tab > Declarations and Compositions table attributes. It distributes changed values on published declarations that are associated with those parts. The administrator may have mapped fields within parts. For example, the administrator has enabled and mapped

Declaration > Items > Part (link) > PageTwo > Date05

to

Part > Compliance tab > Declarations and Compositions > Date02,

when you edit this attribute, the new value is published back to

Part > Page Two > Date05.

Now let us say the supplier alters the Date02 field while completing the declaration. When the declaration is returned, released, and the data is published to the system, this new value automatically carries over to

Part > Page Two > Date05.

Note that the mapping works two ways: when adding this item to the declaration, the system pulls the value from the item's Page Two / Page Three into the declaration's <Parts/PG> table onto the mapped attribute.

When multiple declarations regarding the same part are sent to different suppliers, the rule in Agile is "Latest Released Wins." This implies that the value of a mapped attribute can change if later declarations dictate it.