1. Using Product Master Data Management
  2. Item Lifecycle Phases

Item Lifecycle Phases

Item Lifecycle Phases are used as an indicator of the stage for an item within the lifecycle process. Each phase represents a set of tasks and deliverables that are required before promoting an item to the next phase.

Each item must have a lifecycle phase associated with it.

Four lifecycle phase types are predefined in the application: Design, Preproduction or Prototype, Production and Obsolete. You can use the predefined phase types to create new values for the lifecycle phases.

Companies can use different terms to describe the same item lifecycle phase. For example, the phases named Production and In Manufacturing both refer to the lifecycle phase during which an item can be used to build and ship products.

Lifecycle phases are associated with item classes. The items in an item class can be assigned to any of the lifecycle phases associated with that item class.

Note:
  • The lifecycle phase of a child item is not automatically promoted when the parent item is promoted.
  • The best practice is to make items Effective on Approval, if they are in the design lifecycle phase.

Before you create or import items, create lifecycle phases. Assign phases to the item class used to create the items. You can also assign them to a parent item class of the item class used to create the item. When an item is assigned to a lifecycle phase, that phase is visible as part of the item's attributes. In item structures, lifecycle phases are used to control specific processes.

Effective Date in the Design Lifecycle Phase

The effective date for items in the Design lifecycle phase can't be modified.

If the item is in the Design lifecycle phase, the item on the change order is effective on approval.

If a future effective date is set for the affected object in a change order, a warning message appears with the following buttons:

  • Continue: To continue with the future effective date.

  • Edit: To cancel the current Save action, return to edit mode and correct the future effective date.

Change the Lifecycle Phase

In the Product Information Management work area, you can change the lifecycle phase directly on the item or by assigning it to a change order for a commercial item.

In the Product Development work area, you can change the lifecycle phase of an item by assigning it to a change order.