10 Price Change Orders

This chapter provides information about working with price change orders (PCOs).

10.1 About Price Change Orders

You control any changes that need to be made to prices through a price change order (PCO). PCOs are routed through workflows, from the Pending phase through the Released phase. Through a PCO, you can release a price, redline the price information, and track the history of the price information.

You create PCOs for price objects only. A PCO can contain multiple prices that can be associated with different items, but a price be associated with more than one pending PCO.

10.1.1 Managing PCOs

Price change orders control changes to the prices of items or manufacturer parts. The price administrator can create PCOs, and the price collaborators can publish the prices of items from the response lines of RFQs.

This section covers the following topics:

• Creating PCOs

• Adding Price Objects to PCOs

• Workflows

• Adding Objects to the Relationships Tab

10.1.1.1 Creating PCOs

You can create PCOs from prices or from the Create New menu on the main menu bar. When you create a PCO from the Actions menu of a price, the price is associated with the PCO by default. When you create the PCO from the Create New menu, you must associate the price with the PCO manually.

To create a PCO from the Create New menu:

1. Click Create New > Changes > Price Change Orders. The Create New Price Change Orders dialog appears.

2. Select the Type of PCO from the drop-down list.

3. A unique, system generated number may automatically be filled in the Number field on the basis of Price Type you selected. You may also be able to modify this number, give one of your own or click the AutoNumber button to generate a new number.

   
   

   Note: Auto-numbering settings, such as the automatic generation of an AutoNumber, are set by the Agile administrator. These settings can limit the options you have for the Number field. See the Agile PLM Administrator Guide for more information.

   
   

4. Click Save. The cover page of the newly created PCO appears.

5. Select a category from the Change Category drop-down list.

6. Enter the Description of Change and the Reason for Change in the corresponding fields.

7. Select a Reason Code, Workflow, and Price Admin from the corresponding drop-down lists.

8. Click the Address Book button next to the Originator. It opens a search palette to find and select an originator from the list of users. By default, the originator is the user who creates the PCO.

9. Change the Date Originated using the calendar to stamp the date of origination of the PCO, if it is different from today's date.

10. Click the list button next to the Product Lines to select the affected product lines.

11. Click Save. The updated cover page appears.

Add affected prices or attachments to the PCO by clicking on the corresponding tabs.

To create a PCO from a Price object:

1. Open a Price object.

2. Choose Actions > Add to Change > Create New. The Create Changes window appears.

3. Select a PCO from the Change Type drop-down list.

4. Click the AutoNumber button to have a system-generated unique number inserted in the Number field. You can also choose to enter in your own unique number.

   
   

   Note: Your Agile administrator may have modified the way that the Number of a PCO is set. AutoNumbers may not be available or it may be required. Check with your administrator for more information.

   
   

5. Click Save.

6. To add details to the newly created PCO, follow steps 4 through 11 from the preceding procedure, To create a PCO from the Create New menu.

10.1.1.2 Cover Page Tab

This tab displays general information about the PCO, including the unique identification number of the PCO, the current workflow status of the PCO, the description of the change, and the reason for the change.

You can edit the Cover Page tab by clicking the Edit button.

10.1.1.3 Affected Prices Tab

The Affected Prices tab displays information about the prices associated with the PCO. You can make changes to the price information through redlining. You can see the history of the redlined information on this tab.

You can click the Price Number in the table to view the price information.

You can redline price information on this tab. For information about redlining, see "Redlining Price Information."

10.1.1.4 Adding Price Objects to PCOs

You can add any number of price objects to a PCO, but a price object can be associated with only one pending PCO. Once a price is published, you must create a PCO to make even a small change in the price information.

You can add an existing price to the PCO. Alternatively, you can create a price for any item or manufacturer part and add it to the PCO. You can also create price lines for the item or manufacturer part, but this is not required.

To add existing prices to a PCO:

1. Open a PCO and select the Affected Prices tab.

2. Click Add. A new row appears with an editable Price Number field.

3. Type in the Price Number directly or search for it by clicking the Search icon. For information about searching for Agile objects, see Getting Started with Agile PLM. Alternatively, you can create a price object, if needed, by clicking the Create New icon.

If you try to add a price object that already has a pending PCO, the attempt to add fails and an error message appears.

10.1.1.5 Applying the Effective Date

You can apply the effective date of the price using the Auto Populate Effective Date dialog.

To apply the effective date:

1. In the Affected Prices tab of a price object, select the row(s) of the price rows in the table.

2. Click Auto Populate Effective Date. The Auto Populate Effective Date dialog appears.

3. Select the date from the Enter a Date calendar.

4. Check Apply to All Items to apply the selected date to all the selected price objects.

5. Click Set Date.

10.1.1.6 Workflows

Figure 10-1 Sample Workflow

The Workflow tab displays information about the workflow of the PCO in the form of a flowchart. A PCO begins in the Unassigned phase and ends in the Released phase. The price information in the PCO takes effect when the PCO reaches the Released phase. However, the PCO can be canceled or put on hold during any phase.

Note: Actions are not captured on the History tab for unassigned PCOs.

A user with the appropriate role submits the PCO and forwards it to the next phase by notifying the price reviewer. The price reviewer receives the notification, reviews the price information, makes any necessary modifications, and then notifies approvers, observers, and acknowledgers. They review the price information sent by the price reviewer, make any necessary changes, and pass it on to the next stage for implementation.

You can view sign off history and the workflow diagram for the PCO in the Workflow tab.

Only price administrators, who are also approvers, can approve or reject a PCO. Observers are those who analyze the PCO and give their comments. Acknowledgers are those who need to be aware of the change. Notifications regarding the PCO can be sent to other users such as suppliers and customers.

Functional teams help determine which users should be used as approvers, acknowledgers, and observers. You can add or remove approvers, acknowledgers, and observers by clicking Add Reviewers or Remove Reviewers. The reviewers can approve, acknowledge, or reject the PCO by clicking the Approve, Acknowledge, or Reject buttons.

The workflow may have multiple phases depending on your requirements. The Agile administrator can customize the workflow. For more information about workflows, including functional teams, see Getting Started with Agile PLM.

10.1.1.7 Adding Relationships

In the Relationships tab, you can add the information about objects that affect the PCO status and add Rules to those objects. You can add multiple objects but objects in their Released state cannot be added to either table.

To relate existing objects to a PCO:

1. Open a PCO and select the Relationships tab.

2. Click Add > Search. The search window appears.

3. Search for and select object(s). Drag and drop (or double-click) objects you want to add into the Relationships table.

10.1.1.8 Applying Relationship Rules

Once you have added relationship objects, you can select them one by one and add their relationship rules.

10.1.2 Redlining Price Information

You can publish price information to the Item Master in two modes-Authoring and Redlining.

• Authoring mode enables you to publish price information directly to the Item Master. You can publish prices in Authoring mode from the Analysis tab of a sourcing project and from the Response tab in an RFQ. In Authoring mode, changes do not go through an approval process.

• Redlining mode keeps track of all the previous price information. You redline price information when you want to make changes to the published information, but want to go through an approval process. You use PCOs to deal with changes to prices that have been published. A PCO contains multiple price objects, which in turn contain multiple price lines. You can redline the price line information of any price object in the PCO.

You can also add price lines to the price object or delete them in Redline mode. Adding price lines in Redline mode is similar to adding price line information to the price object.

Price managers submit the redlined price information to price administrators to approve (Price Review stage) and release. The price administrators review the redlined price information and release the PCO with or without the changes.

To redline price lines:

1. Open a PCO and select the Affected Prices tab.

2. In the Affected Prices table, select the row of the price that must be redlined. The price lines for that price are displayed in the Redlines table below.

3. In the Redlines table, click Add. The Add Price Line dialog appears.

4. Edit information as required.

5. Click Finish. The newly added price line appears in the Redlines table in red.

Note: You can view the original information as it was originally published from the redline dialog by selecting the price lines and clicking the Undo Redlines button.

10.1.2.1 Deleting Price Lines in Redlining Mode

You can delete a price line and send it for price review. The approvers can accept or reject the deletion.

To delete the price line in Redlining mode:

1. Open a PCO and select Affected Prices tab.

2. In the Affected Prices table, select the row of the price that has a price line that must be removed. The price lines for the selected price are displayed in the Redlines table below.

3. In the Redlines table, select the row of the price line that must be removed.

4. Click Remove.

The system keeps the deleted price line in the table, but strikes it through with a red line. You can undo the "deletion" by selecting the row and clicking the Undo Redlines button.