Field change orders (FCO)

A field change order (FCO) is an order to modify a part of a installation group that is installed at the customer site or in your own organization. You mainly use field change orders to solve production errors collectively, and to introduce product modifications. You can also subcontract the execution of the FCO.

You mainly use Field Change Orders (FCOs) to solve production errors collectively (product recalls) or to modify a product. In the case of production errors, the costs are usually at the service organization's expense.

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Use the Field Change Orders (tssoc5100m000) session to define a field change order. Organizations that play roles in manufacturing and servicing can use this session. If a manufacturing defect is found with an item that has been used as a part of Installation groups, a field change order is raised for global replacement of such defective items. The item to be serviced and the activities to be performed are registered in this entity.

FCO Lines

After you create the FCO header, in which the anonymous item or serialized item and the related activities that you want to replace are specified, you can either manually define FCO lines or have the lines generated automatically.

Each FCO line represents one specific serialized item or one anonymous item in an Installation group. The advantage of automatic generation is that LN checks all related Installation groups, taking the active dates into account. You can use the Generate Field Change Order Lines (tssoc5210m000) session to generate lines automatically for a range of FCOs, sold-to business partners, and Installation groups or serial numbers.

Generate Service Orders for FCO

You can generate service orders for field change orders (FCOs). The planned start time on the service order is the planned start date entered in the Generate Service Order (tssoc5220m000) session. To determine the planned finish time on the service order, you add the sum of all reference activities’ durations to the planned start time.

Functionality to generate Field Change Order
  • The first time you define an FCO, the FCO receives the status Free.
  • In the Field Change Orders (tssoc5100m000) session, you can define up to five activities for an FCO. When you generate a service order for an FCO, LN generates a service order activity line for each of the FCO's activities.
  • In the Field Change Orders (tssoc5100m000) session, you select the item code to which the FCO applies, and in the FCO Lines (tssoc5110m000) session you specify the serialized items (which must have this item code) on which the FCO's activities will be carried out.
  • You can manually enter the serialized item(s) to which the FCO applies in the FCO Lines (tssoc5110m000) session. Alternatively, you can run the Generate FCO Lines (tssoc5210m000) session, in which LN generates FCO lines for all serialized items derived from the item code entered on the FCO. The FCO's status changes from Free to Lines Generated when you create the FCO's first FCO lines.
  • You can generate service orders for a range of FCOs using the Generate Service Order (tssoc5220m000) session. When you generate the first service orders for an FCO, the FCO's status changes from Lines Generated to Execution.
  • In the Service Order Parameters (tssoc0100m000) session, the service type selected determines the service type of service orders that you generate from FCOs. This service type also determines the service order's coverage type, so you can, therefore, define a contract coverage for FCOs.
  • After all of an FCO's service orders are finished, in other words, if the status orders of the service items are either Closed or Canceled, the FCO's status can be Closed. You can then remove the FCO and its FCO lines from LN.

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