Configuration baseline update management with Allowable Configuration
The configuration baseline defined for assemblies in Maintenix generally requires updates with the release of a new IPC revision, service literature released by the OEM, or configuration change requests.
In conjunction with Maintenix, you can use Allowable Configuration which is part of the Aviation Technical Content Manager portfolio. It works as follows:
Export configuration data from Maintenix
A copy of the configuration baseline, for update, is obtained by exporting configuration data from Maintenix. The exported configuration data contains the following:
- Assembly information
- Part group information
- Alternate part information
- Incompatible part information
- Incompatible task information
After the configuration baseline is loaded to Allowable Configuration, a configuration specialist can search for part groups on the Part Group Search page and view configuration data for a part group on the Part Group details page.
Create IPC document revision for assembly
When changes to the configuration baseline are deemed necessary, the configuration specialist creates an IPC change source in Allowable Configuration to serve as the base to which assemblies can be linked, in order to effect changes required to a specific assembly by a new IPC Document revision. In the event that the change source is an IPC Document, the configuration specialist creates the IPC Document in Allowable Configuration and links an assembly to it on the Assemblies tab of the IPC Document page. You can then upload the new IPC document revision and generate the baseline. When done, you can set the status of the document revision to Ready for Analysis so that it can be sent to the engineering service partner for analysis.
Review suggested changes
To determine the changes to configuration data as a result of a new IPC revision, the engineering service partner downloads the new revision along with the baseline. They then suggest changes to the part group configuration data, based on the information at hand. After the partner has finished adding changes, the IPC change suggestions file is uploaded to Allowable Configuration so a configuration specialist can view the suggested changes.
Enable part groups for changes
After a configuration specialist has identified the part groups impacted by the suggested changes, the part group should be connected to a change source if an existing part group requires a change or a new part group can be created. Once the change source is modified for a part group it becomes the active change source.
Action suggested changes
- Ones that must be reviewed.
- Ones that can be accepted.
- Ones for which you should perform spot checks.
- Accept the suggestion. In the event that the suggested change is to create a new part group, accepting this change set creates the part group.
- Reject the suggestion.
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Set the suggestion to manually actioned to make changes manually.
Once you have actioned changes on the part group, they can be viewed as change steps, categorized by types such as mapping to IPC elements, taken against the part group on the Action Log tab for the part group.
Action changes due to other change sources
The configuration specialist can also action manual changes to part groups that result from other service literature. It should be noted that these changes may need to happen in the middle of an IPC update, and these changes will need to be published without inadvertently publishing elements of the IPC update. To action these changes, the configuration specialist needs to modify the change source for the affected part group to the Other type change source or create a part group for this change source. Manual changes can then be made on the part group, which can then be published.