A Configuration Change Request is created when a configuration for a configurable part on the demand order is changed, and the change affects a started supply in production.
There are two types of configuration change requests:
A real configuration change request is created when a change made to the configuration of a customer order line impacts already started supplies in production. This change can result from either a manual update made in the Edit Configuration assistance or from the acceptance of a simulation configuration change request. You can use the configuration change request information to investigate if the requested changes can be applied to the already started supplies. The provided information is a result of a comparison of the original production structure and the new structure based on the old and new configuration IDs. Once the investigation using the affected order information concludes and it is determined that the requested production changes can proceed, the configuration change request will be approved. Following approval, the production changes can be manually applied to the production orders. If the decision is that the requested changes cannot be made, in that case, the configuration change request is set to Decline and the configuration on demand order needs to be updated manually or can be reverted using the Revert Configuration Change Request command. .
The information displayed in the configuration change request can be different, added, or removed: components, structure work guidelines, operations, operation work guidelines, and tools.
The Configuration Change Request is initially created in Planned status. As this is in Planned status, it is possible to make another configuration change on the Edit Configuration assistant page, if it is a real Configuration Change Request. For simulation configuration change requests, the user needs to load the simulation first and make the required configuration change. As a result, the existing Configuration Change Request is overwritten by the newly created Configuration Change Request.
If the configuration change is made only for the characteristics of the type Informational, no Configuration Change Request is created. The reason for this is that changing only an informational characteristic does not affect the physical products or the configuration IDs of the started supplies.
A simulation configuration change request is created when the user wants to simulate potential configuration changes before initiating a real configuration change request. If the simulated change would impact supplies already in production, the system generates a simulation configuration change request. Creating a simulation request does not affect demand or production orders, meaning the configuration itself remains unchanged, and no DOP alarms are triggered. To initiate a simulation configuration change request, the user must use the Create Simulation command in the Edit Configuration assistant. This changes the assistant into Simulate Configuration mode. Once the user makes and applies a configuration change in this mode, a simulation configuration change request is created if the change impacts supplies.
For sites with started supply orders, the Allow Configuration Changes for Started Supplies setting must be enabled to allow configuration changes at the customer order line level. Disabling this setting would result in an error when there are started supplies, preventing configuration changes from being conducted.
But this site setting is not considered when simulating a configuration change through a simulated Configuration Change Request.
When a configuration change occurs at the customer order line level in the Edit Configuration assistant, and affects the started supplies, a new record is created automatically on the Configuration Change Request page.
When a configuration change is made in the Simulate Configuration assistant and it affects the supplies, a new record is automatically created on the Configuration Change Request page, indicating that the request is of the type of Simulation.
This record is created in Planned status and the Characteristic Changes tab contains all the changes related to the configuration characteristics. The list of characteristics is a comparison between the new and old configuration IDs.
Below is a list of information that displays all characteristics included on the Characteristic Changes tab. The new and old values of configuration option value/characteristic quantity are shown to identify the differences. This information is especially important for the user if the configuration on the demand order needs to be reverted to the original configuration if the configuration change request is declined.
When the Configuration Change Request is released, an interim order is created using the new configuration ID and a comparison is made between the interim order structure and the existing production structure. The result can be viewed on the Affected Orders tab which lists the started orders affected by the configuration change. The affected order type (DOP order, Shop Order) and the order references are displayed for each affected order in the Affected Orders list.
If the configuration change request is of the type Simulation, it considers not only the started supplies but also all created supply orders that are affected by the configuration change.
Note: To view the interim order details, use the configuration change request ID in the interim order header search field Description, where the configuration change request ID exists.
On the Affected Orders tab, a set of indicators to highlight the objects affected by the configuration adjustments. The indicators are Component Changed, Work Instruction Struct Changed, Operation Changed, Work Instruction Routing Changed and Tool Changed. These indicators provide an overview of changes resulting from the configuration change. If all indicators are disabled, it indicates that no component or operation changes are needed but revisions or alternates may have been changed which can be viewed on the Details page of the affected order.
There is another set of indicators that describes the manual work that should be carried out. The following indicator columns can be used to understand what type of manual work needs to be done on connected DOP orders in order to solve the DOP alarms and continue the business flow. These indicators will be enabled only if the affected orders supply type is DOP.
Rework Needed: Indicates that the produced configurable part that is affected can still be used after the configuration change with the use of a repair shop order. The flag is enabled if the following conditions are met:
Unpeg Shop Order: Indicates that the connected shop order needs to be unpegged before the configuration DOP header alarm can be processed. The flag is enabled if the following conditions are met:
Unreserve Temp Inventory: Indicates that the delivered quantity to temp inventory needs to be unreserved before the configuration DOP header alarm can be processed. The flag is enabled if the following conditions are met:
Update Shop Order: Indicates that changes to the shop order or manual handling are required when any of the following attributes have the status Changed: Component, Work Instruction Structure, Operation, Work Instruction Routing, Tools.
Unpeg Component Purchase Order: Indicates that a purchase order connected to the DOP order needs to be unpegged before business flow can be continued. The following conditions will enable the indicator.
Review delivered components: Indicates that a DOP handled component is not displayed as an attribute on the affected order to be changed but it is still important to investigate since the component has been issued on the affected order and will still be included in the structure after the configuration change. As a result, additional supplies might be needed, which could influence the decision to approve the affected order.
For each affected order listed on the Affected Orders tab, there is a record created on the Affected Order Detail page. By selecting the affected orders on the Affected Orders tab, it is possible to navigate to the Affected Order Detail page to view the details. This helps determine if the requested changes can be made to the started production orders.
The Affected Order Detail page provides all the details related to the changes that are needed for the objects to facilitate the new configuration. In the header section the relevant order references are shown and in the Order Changes section, the objects that need changes are listed. The objects are Component, Operation, Structure Work Guideline, Routing Work Guideline, and Tool.
When there is a change required for one of the attributes connected with a Component, Operation, Structure Work Guideline, Routing Work Guideline, or Tool, a record is included in the Order Changes section. The result is listed as Additional, Absent and Different on the Order Changes tab.
For the object types mentioned above, there is a set of attributes connected to each object type. When an attribute should be changed due to the configuration change, it is included in the Order Changes section with the relevant object including the new and old attribute values.
The attributes considered for the changes are listed below.
Once the order changes are listed on the Order Changes tab, the relevant production representative can review the required order changes by looking at the object types and the changed attributes.
After considering the current status of the started production orders, the production representative can decide whether the change can be Approved or Declined.
If the Affected Order is in Approved status, it means that the required order change can be performed in the started production order and the production representative has agreed to the changes.
If it is Declined, it means that the required order change cannot be performed in the started production order and the production representative has not agreed to the configuration change.
Note: After further reviewing the changes, if it is decided to change the decision later, it is possible to revert the decision using Revert Approval or Revert Decline commands unless the Configuration Change Request is Approved or Declined.
When all the Affected Order records are Approved, the responsible representative for the configuration change request can change the Configuration Change Request to Approved status.
If a real Configuration Change Request is Approved,
If at least one Affected Order record is Declined, the Configuration Change Request can only be set to Declined status.
If another configuration change is done when the Configuration Change Request is in Declined status, a new Configuration Change Request will be created in Planned status if the new configuration change affects a started supply. The earlier declined Configuration Change Request will be changed to status Cancelled.
If the Configuration Change Request is Declined, it means that the required configuration change cannot be accepted, and the configuration changes must be reverted at the customer order line.
Revert of the configuration can be done in two ways:
When a simulation configuration change request is Approved, it indicates that production representatives have confirmed the feasibility of implementing the simulated change in production. At this point, the simulation request can be Accepted, leading to the creation of a real configuration change request.
Once the Approved simulation request is loaded in simulation mode, the Accept Simulation command becomes available in the Simulate Configuration assistant. When this command is executed:
If at least one of the affected orders is Declined, the simulation configuration change request can only be set to Declined status.
If a new configuration change is performed in the Simulate Configuration assistant while the previous simulation request is in Declined status, and the new change affects supplies, a new revision of the simulation configuration change request is automatically created with Planned status. The previously declined simulation request is then updated to Canceled status.
At any point (except when in Closed status), it is still possible to Decline or Cancel a simulation configuration change request.
Complete Configuration Change Request is available only for the real configuration change requests.
When the real Configuration Change Request is in Approved status, it implies that the order changes in Affected Order Records can be conducted to apply the new configuration.
By looking at the Order Changes listed on the Affected Order page, the relevant configuration structure changes can be made for each affected order.
Update Supply Configuration in DOP orders can be done when the connected configuration change request has the status Approved or Completed.
Configuration IDs will be updated on both DOP orders and supply orders if the supply order is started on this level and is affected by the configuration change. Configuration IDs on closed supply shop orders will not be updated.
Changes of components, operations, work guidelines, and tools in started supply orders will not be updated automatically, updates of the above objects must be done manually.
These changes are examples of production changes that need to be done manually.
Note:
Once the configuration ID is updated and the purchase order is received, it will be
reserved to the temp inventory instead of being reserved to the parent shop order material line, if the
material line with old configuration ID has not been deleted manually from the parent shop order.
The reason for this is that the material line on the parent shop order has the connection to the purchase
requisition and purchase order with the old configuration ID, until the user removes the original material line
manually and adds the material line with the new configuration ID.
To add the material line with the new configuration ID, it is possible to use Add
Material command of DOP supply order lines listed on the DOP tab of
the parent shop order. Once the material line with the new configuration ID is added, the received material in
the temp inventory will be reserved for the parent shop order material line.
At the time of editing the configuration in demand site customer order line, if the internal purchase order is partially or fully received from the supply site and it is affected by the configuration change, the received quantity should be unpegged from temp inventory and the internal purchase order which is in Received status should be unpegged before solving the configuration DOP alarm. Once the configuration alarm is solved, the newly created purchase requisition/purchase order should be used to handle the internal purchase part with the new configuration.
Once all the manual changes are conducted for each order change listed in the Affected Order record, the status can be changed to Completed status.
When all the Affected Order records are in Completed status, the Configuration Change Request can be changed to the Completed status.
The Configuration Change Request, in the completed status, indicates that the configuration changes have been made to the started supplies, and the new configuration is applied to the supply order.
Once the configuration change request status changes to Completed status,
For real configuration changes, to allow configuration changes for started supplies in the internal manufacturing site, the Allow Configuration Changes for Started Supplies setting must be enabled for the internal manufacturing site as well.
Enabling this setting triggers the creation of a Configuration Change Request when a configuration change is made to an external customer order, including information about the started supply order at the internal manufacturing site.
If the external customer order has the supply code Internal Purchase Direct or Internal Purchase Transit and the supply code is DOP in the internal customer order, there will be an information alarm generated in the DOP header of the internal manufacturing site to inform the production team that there is an incoming configuration change. Once the Incoming Customer Order Change Request is completed, above mentioned alarm will be replaced by the standard configuration alarm. If the supply code is Shop Order in an internal customer order, the pegged shop order cannot be received until the Configuration Change Request is Completed or Cancelled.
When the external customer order in demand site has the supply code DOP and a configurable subcomponent exists as internally purchased in a DOP structure, the configuration changes can be handled in two different ways if started supplies exist in the manufacturing site. But the user should decide the suitable way to handle configuration changes among the two methods mentioned below.
Once the configuration alarm in demand site is solved,
If it is decided to proceed with the new purchase requisition/purchase order, the already released internal
purchase order must be unpegged.
If it is decided to proceed with the already released purchase order, the newly created purchase
requisition/purchase order must be unpegged.
Steps to handle this are described in the section Complete the Affected Order and Configuration Change Request in this document.