Autodesk PLM 360: Taking the Work Out of Workflow

Transcription

1 Autodesk PLM 360: Taking the Work Out of Workflow Ian Hadden Autodesk PL Autodesk PLM 360: Taking the Work Out of Workflow Many companies have complex business processes. In this class, we will discuss methods and tools that can help you to understand and digest those processes. We will talk about how to map them into defined, repeatable processes than can be modeled on Autodesk PLM 360. Learning Objectives At the end of this class, you will be able to: Implement existing processes on Autodesk PLM 360 Model your business processes Model workflow on Autodesk PLM 360 About the Speaker Ian Hadden Solution Architect - Autodesk

2 Gather and Understand your Business Needs In this class we will review how to start building a business process within PLM360. Before we can even begin to build anything within PLM360 we need to first understand what it is that we need to do. To understand the future or to-be process we first need to understand what the problem we are trying to solve is, what is the current process that created this problem and what are the requirements for this process. 1 - Interviews What is the best way to get answers from your customers? Ask! Interviewing your customers is vital to understand what their problems, requirements and goals are for their PLM deployment. However, interviews can be good or bad; the easiest way to get the right answers is to ask the right questions. I order to ask the right questions you need to be prepared. Understanding of Basic Terminology It is important to have some minimal understanding of the client s business before conducting the interview. Otherwise, you will spend too much time (in the clients mind) learning the basics and not enough time getting to the real issues. Understanding regulation they must adhere to or just some basic words will go a long way toward impressing your client. You don t necessarily need to understand every aspect of their business or industry but you do want to show you have done your homework or worked in this industry before. Empathy to the Client s Situation Always show empathy and understanding, (this is not necessarily showing agreement) to the client s situation. The interviewer should frequently use affirming body language and verbally show that she understands what the interviewee is saying. Neutrality of Opinion The interviewer should be as unbiased as possible. In many cases, the interviewee expresses opinions and may be seeking confirmation of those opinions. Avoidance of Scope Creep The interviewer should understand the scope of the interview and be able to guide the interviewee to remain within the boundaries of that scope. Understanding who you are talking to Depending on the interviewee s role in the company will effect what they want from the PLM implementation. It is important to understand the interviewee role and goal from the project. At the end of the interview process you should have some idea of what you customer does today, what they like and dislike and most importantly what they want to get out of the new systems. 2

3 2 - Understanding the AS-IS Process Before you can start to map the go forward or To-Be process you need to fully understand what the customer currently does today as well as why they do it. Understanding why a particular piece of the process is there is far more important than understanding the exact steps or button clicks that are performed. A lot of this information will be gained during the customer interviews but equally important is to get any documentation, process flows and samples from their current process. Figure 1 Review each step in the process and understand what is actually being done on that step. Understand who are the people that actually do that step. Keep in mind that what actually happens and what is documented are not always the same. That s why they are looking for a PLM system! 3 - Documenting the To-Be Process It may seem to be time consuming to document the To-Be process prior to starting to build or pilot the solution but it really is worth it. Build process flows It is always helpful to build out the flow of data for each process (or group of processes). Swim lane diagrams are very useful to show how the process steps are laid out and the interaction between them. Each Actor in the system is represented by a lane in the pool. The Pool with the swim lanes is used to represent the process and the tasks are added into it. There are several different way to arrange your swim lane diagrams and the type you use really is up to personal preference or the specific scenario you are working with. Role Centric Swim Lanes A role Centric Swim Lane is focused on the role which people are in when performing action within the system or process. This type of swim lane tends to follow more of the current real world process. Actions performed by the PLM system can be added as a role. 3

4 Figure 2 System Centric Swim Lanes System Centric Swim lanes help to detail out the interactions between various different systems used within the organization. System Centric Swim lanes help to identify the integrations required between the various systems. Figure 3 4

5 4 - Define the To-Be Workflow Once you have documented and understood the As-Is process and the requirements you can begin to map out the to-be workflow. Start by identifying the step or actions in the As-Is process that would require an action in the PLM system. For example the following flow consists of 3 steps. Figure 4 These 3 steps exist as a part of the business process but only one action would have an effect in the PLM system. The system needs a place for the results to be recorded and your workflow need to ensure that they have been entered if they are required. Once all the steps in the process that have an impact on you PLM system have been identified you next need to identify what the workflow will look like to ensure that process is followed. The workflow states need to provide information about the action the user is being expected to do both inside and outside the system, the rules that you put in place need to insure that the users cannot bypass or skip a step in the process. Figure 4 shows a section of the ideation swim lane for the approval of an idea. The swim lane shows the business process for this approval. 5

6 Figure 5 6

7 The steps for the Ideation approval may actually include setting up a meeting, holding the meeting, approving/cancelling project or requesting further information. Figure 5 shows how the PLM360 might be drawn out. Here was can see that there are states in the workflow where the users is preparing for the review. This is followed by a state while the review is happening. The comment boxes start to give an idea of code that is required of reach of the transitions. Requires Comments to be Entered Prepare For Review Check all fields have data Additional Details Required Single Rejection Needed Review Idea Once Final Approver Select Approve Reject Approve Rejected Approved Figure 6 5 Build the Workflow Now that the to-be process has been defined it is time to start building the workflow within PLM360. Assuming that you have built out the basics of your workspace (fields, roles and descriptor) you are ready to start building out your workflow. From the administration area of your workspace select the Workflow Editor link. This will launch the workflow builder application. 7

8 Add the workflow States The first thing to do is add the new workflow states Select the new state button and click anywhere in the workflow editor to add the state. Enter the details for the state you are creating. It is always best to include a good description of what the user is going to be expected to do during this state. The workflow Lock State check box determines if at that particular state the item becomes uneditable or locked. To edit the item again the workflow must loop back to an earlier state. For any workflow there may be only one state designated as a lock state. The Managed State check box is used in revisioning workspaces and it is the state in the workflow at which point the item or items in a revision controlled workspace change revision level. The Hide in online map check box controls whether the state can be seen by the users in the online map. To close the State properties box click anywhere in the workflow editor. 8

9 Figure 7 Continue to build out the other states needed for the workflow. Figure 8 Draw the Transitions between the States Once the states have been laid out you can begin to draw the transitions between them. A transition is an instantaneous change from one state to another. For some tips in naming your transition look here. Remember the transition name is what your users will see in PLM360 when moving the workflow forward. You will need to create or assign permission to the transition. This new permission will appear in the Permission selection area for the roles defined for this workspace. The permission needs to be assigned to the roles the will) that will perform this particular transition. The name of the permission is not really important except in so much as it will help you and any other administrators know how to use it when assigning to roles. 9

10 You can also attach scripts to be run as part of this transition, there are 3 types of scripts that can be used in the workflow. Condition A condition scripts checks to see if a certain condition is met before showing a workflow transition to the user. Validation A validation script is run when a user attempts to execute a transition. If the validation is passed then the transition is executed, if it is not met then a message is returned to the user and the workflow is not progressed. Action An Action script is used to perform an action within the system. When the transition is executed the script is run which can perform any scriptable action within the system. This can included but is not limited to Creating records, updating data, sending s and many more. Figure 9 Once you have created a transition you can add an elbow to it. This is useful to layout your workflow so it can be easily read and make sense to your users and yourself. To create an elbow right click on the transition and select the add elbow option. You can create more than one elbow to route the transition. 10

11 Figure 10 Figure 11 Once you have your workflow laid out and the transition defined it is time to save your work. Be sure to check the bottom right corner to ensure everything has been defined correctly. PLM360 will not let you save your changes until everything is defined. As with everything it is always safest to save often. Figure 12 11

12 Test the workflow Now that the hard work has been done its time to test your new workflow. Go to your workspace and try to move an object forward in the workflow. If you see the message shown in Figure 13 then you have forgotten a simple step. You need to add the workflow permission to the role. As a rule of thumb whenever you don t see something you think you should it is best to go check the permission first. Figure 13 Once the permissions have been updated you can now move your record forward in the workflow. Select the transition you want to move and long and select save. Congratulations your workflow is working. Figure 14 12

13 Editing the workflow Now that you have your workflow and have given it a quick test drive it is not unusual to find a few things you are not 100% happy with, fear not, these can easily be modified. To make changes to your workflow simply go back to the workflow editor. Select the state or transition you want to change and make your edits. Don t forget to save to once you are finished. Figure 15 You don t need to build it right first time but it needs to be right before you roll it out to the masses. 13