Understanding the PM Schedule Approval Workflow Architecture
To ensure that all PM schedules have proper authorization, the system is able to dynamically route PM schedules to the appropriate people for approval using business rules that you establish for your organization, based on your particular business needs. This section discusses:
Terminology.
Architecture.
PM schedule approval workflow modifications.
This table provides definitions for the PM schedules workflow terminology that is used throughout these topics:
Term |
Definition |
|---|---|
Ad Hoc Approver/Reviewer |
Technician or approver can add another user ad hoc to approve or review the current PM schedule only. The process definition is not modified, so it does not affect other PM schedule approval routings. |
Approval Map |
The graphic representation of an approval instance with stages, paths and steps. |
Approval Path |
A path is a group of sequential, related steps, such as approval steps based on a single department hierarchy (for example, manager, director, VP, and so on). |
Approval Stage |
A stage is a collection of paths. Stages come in a single sequence (stage 1, stage 2, …) A stage runs when its immediately preceding stage finishes. When a stage runs, all the paths within it run simultaneously. The stage is considered complete when all paths within it have finished. |
Approval Step |
The basic unit of approval. A step has one or more approvers, whose actions are tracked. A step can be configured to require a set number of approvers to act and has criteria that govern whether or not the step is to be active for the PM schedule. |
Approver |
Compliance Manager who is responsible for approving the PM schedule. |
Criteria |
A criterion is an entity, which evaluates to true or false. Criteria are used to determine which steps and paths are to be considered active for a particular request undergoing approval processing. Criteria can be configured by the functional analyst or can be canned queries, SQL objects, app classes, and so on. |
Reviewer |
The application routes PM schedules to reviewers for informational purposes, but reviewers do not need to take any action for the approval process. |
User List |
Approvers, reviewers, and other actors are grouped by roles and other means. The PeopleSoft Enterprise Components Approval Framework provides an abstraction across such aggregates, called Userlists. |
PM Schedule Approval Process Definition |
A set of rules to govern how the PM schedule approval process should flow for a business unit (SetID-based sharing) based on the business requirements. Within the process definition, stages, paths, and steps can be defined with different criteria and approver designations. |
PM Schedule Approval Process Instance |
A running instance of the approval process for a particular PM schedule with criteria evaluated and specific approvers known (routed or not routed). |
The PM schedule approval workflow uses the workflow framework provided by PeopleSoft Enterprise Components, rather than the standard PeopleTools workflow, which requires advanced technical skills in PeopleTools. Consequently, the PeopleSoft Maintenance Management workflow is easy to create and maintain. All the steps in the PM schedule approval workflow are defined using PeopleSoft pages and are designed so that functional users can easily set it up.
PeopleSoft Maintenance Management delivers the PM schedule approval workflow engine preconfigured. Oracle recommends using the delivered configuration as is, making minor modifications to suit your particular business practices. The PM schedule approval is delivered as system data, using the WM_PM_SCHD approval process ID. You can modify the definition to suit your implementation by defining your own phases, steps, and criteria. These definitions control who should approve the PM schedule, the order in which they approve it, and the method by which the system routes it to approvers. The approval process is keyed by SetID, and by using SetID sharing, each business unit can either have its own independent PM schedule approval process configuration or share the same approval process configuration with other business units. Oracle recommends that you understand the workflow technology before making any changes.
See documentation PeopleSoft Approval Framework
PM schedules are routed to approvers so that they can act on the PM schedules to approve or deny them. If the approver approves a PM schedule, then it is routed to the next approver, if any. A submitter or approver can add ad hoc approvers for the current PM schedule as well. After the PM schedule is fully approved (or no approval is required), it is available to be selected by PM and Projection processes. If the approver denies a PM schedule, than the approval process is terminated. The submitter is notified of the denial and can optionally revise the PM schedule and resubmit it.
The following elements are used in the PM schedule approval process definition and are among the items you would modify to suit your business requirements:
Stages.
A stage is one part of an approval process that can contain multiple parallel paths. The system executes stages in sequence where one must complete before the next one begins. A stage consists of one or more paths.
Paths
A path contains a sequence of steps. Within a stage, paths execute in parallel. Path entry criteria determine whether a path executes for a given PM schedule.
Steps
A step represents one or more approvers or reviewers. Steps within a path execute in sequence. Separate criteria for each step determine whether or not that step executes. Each step can also have a set of reviewers, who are notified about transactions pending approval by email, if configured, and through the Worklist. But the workflow proceeds without waiting for reviewers to act.
Note: While the approval process configuration may require any number of approvers to approve a step before it advances, any single approver can deny a PM schedule. After a PM schedule is denied, the system stops routing the PM schedule, the approval process terminates, and the entire PM schedule is denied.
The system notifies approvers of a pending approval by using Worklist and email. You need to define the individuals or roles that comprise a user list, and the authorized approvers. You can specify approvers by roles, queries, fixed lists, or by using custom application classes. Once the required number of approvers have approved a step, the approval workflow advances past that step.
To make adjustments to the delivered PM schedule approval workflow process, complete the following tasks, which are discussed in detail in the remainder of these topics:
Update the PM schedule approval process definition by using the Approval Process Setup component (Enterprise Components, Approvals, Approvals, Approval Process Setup).
The approval process definition specifies the stages, paths, steps, and criteria for the workflow approval process.
(Optional) update the method of notification that is used for approvals in the Notification Options Register of the Register Transactions page (Enterprise Components, Approvals, Approvals, Transaction Registry, Register Transactions.)
The transaction definition contains the metadata which describes the transaction make up to the workflow approval engine. PeopleSoft delivers the transaction registry for PM schedule approvals; you do not need to create it. As delivered, the system is configured to use emails and worklists.
Add or update user lists in the User List Definition page (Enterprise Components, Approvals, Approvals, User List Setup, User List Definition.)
Add or update PM schedule approvers in the Approval Authorization page (Enterprise Components, Approvals, Approvals, Authorize Approvers, Approval Authorization).