Product Lifecycle Management

Advanced import validation and mapping

The PLM Import functionality is used to import item structures, document structures, and folder structures along with other related objects. The import is based on an XML file format.

Mapping functions have been added to modify the data before import. In the Import configuration, these mapping functions are now supported:

  • Active Revision - set active revision according to Date/LatestCreated
  • Allow update released - rule about updating released objects
  • AutoNumber - set auto number to field
  • Concat - concat value to field
  • Constant - set constant to field
  • Conversion Table - perform conversion from external to internal values
  • Copy - copy value from one field to another
  • Copy Attribute - copy value from one attribute to another
  • Current Date - set current date to field (current time optional)
  • Current Project - set current project to field
  • Current User - set current user in field
  • Default - default value for empty field
  • Delete - remove a field from xml node
  • ERP Item Defaults -perform select for reference values
  • Field Reload - get latest value and reload for field
  • File Rename - set the name of the file
  • Parameter - set current parameter to field
  • Previous Revision - set active revision according to DATE/LAST
  • Rename - rename attribute

These validation functions have been added:

  • Document File - Validate the document file
  • Mandatory - Check mandatory fields
  • Manufacturers - Check manufacturers
  • Reference Designators - Check reference designators
  • Subcontractors - Check subcontractors
  • Suppliers - Check suppliers

Email option for workflow distribution step

A step of the type distribution has been added to the PLM workflow template to send emails to defined recipients. The recipients receive an email through the SMTP server defined in tools, which connects to the eMessage connector in LN Tools.

Recipients can be defined as PLM-Users, PLM-Groups, or non-PLM Users.

In the workflow template definition, a template for the body of the message and a subject for the email can be specified.

In the definition of the workflow distribution step, variables such as business process field values can be specified.

Item structure reports

These reports have been added:

Item structure with documents and drawings
This report prints the BOM structure, related documents, and drawings for each child item. The item, revision, effective date, and number of levels can be selected.
Item structure with reference designators and manufacturers
This report is similar to the report above, but shows reference designators and manufacturers for each child item.

PBOM revision control

To improve revision control, these fields have been added to the PBOM:

  • Status - can be set to Draft or Approved. Only approved PBOMs can be sent to LN CE.
  • Sequence and Sent to Production - used as additional status indicators in the process.

These new fields are used to control the modification of the PBOM.

If the status of the PBOM is Approved, it cannot be modified. To modify the PBOM, its status must be changed to Draft. Changing the status to Draft can be done only if the PBOM has not yet been sent to production.

Quality - PLM integration

See the topic with the same title in Quality.

Skipping of component to production

When you send an EBOM or PBOM to production, you can choose to skip a component in the BOM. For this, the Skip to Production check box is available on the BOM line. Now, this check box has also been added to the Item Structure Workbench (pdpdm8100m000).

This check box affects the Send to Production step from an item and from a workflow or business process.

Various PLM enhancements

These additional enhancements have been made in PLM:

  • The Document Files (pdpdm5500m200) session has been added to view document and file information together.
  • For security reasons, S3 bucket information is now hidden in the Vault session.
  • The duplicate option is now available in the PBOM to copy the child components. This facilitates copying a PBOM from one site to another.
  • Previously, the BOM ID was generated as a combination of parent item ID and revision. Now, you can use a mask to generate the BOM ID.
  • The Update action is now available in the Item Categories and Document Categories session to update category attributes.
  • A check box is now available in Project to send emails from business processes in a project. This option enables users to configure mails for specific projects.