Daxeam version 2.0 Released

POST MULTIPLE WORK ORDERS AT ONCE

Multiple work order can now be posted to projects. This is possible through the periodic function or by simply selecting work orders from the list pages. This function is also available from the activities form.

CREATE WORK ORDER LINE IN SINGLE ACTION

The ability to create a work order line attached to a new work order has been added to the work order line list page, work order line details, engineering asset list page, engineering asset details, engineering asset hierarchy tree and the engineering asset install/remove forms. Simply select the Work order line/Create work order line button from the applicable form.

VERSION 2.0 PERFORMANCE OPTIMIZATION

Performance tests were executed throughout the Daxeam module. The areas included in tests were:

• Work order processing 
• Creating
• Status updates
• Item picking
• Item issuing
• Item returning
• Feedback
• Closing
• Forecasting – e.g. Cyclic forecasts
• Posting meters on engineering assets
• Scheduling
• Reporting

Optimizations were applied based on the results and analysis of performance tests.

ISSUES FIXED

More than 30 issues non-critical have been resolved.

Work order workflow – Re-approval – Part 4

We will wrap up our serious on work order workflow by exploring re-approval. Re-approval can be configured to trigger when the work order is in an Approved status. For example, you may require re-approval if an engineering asset has changed or if addition items are entered against the work order or if the forecasted costs change.

1. Click on Enterprise asset management/Setup/Policies/Enterprise asset management policies button to create a new policy.

Enter a Name, and then under the Policy rules. Click on the Create policy rule button.

2. If you do get an error that the record can’t be save because of the parameters. Just click on the parameters button at the top. Then associate the Companies organization type.

3. Under the re-approval rule, select the fields that will trigger a re-approval. For example, you might want to allow the work order description to be changed but changing the engineering asset will require a re-approval. This will trigger a confirmation dialog that asks the user if they wish to modify the record as it will require to be submitted for re-approval. Below screenshot illustrates that.

The fields that are available on this form are fields that are editable and visible on the work order details form. Fields that are directly updated on the work order form trigger the re-approval check.

4. Once you have configured the policy. Then next time someone tries to modify a work the re-approval configurations will be checked. If a re-approval is required, you will get a message like below asking you if you want to save the changes. If you say yes, it will reset the status back to Not submitted. Change what you need as you will see the yellow ribbon again for the work order to be submitted for approval.

Work order workflow – See it in action – Part 3

To continue the topic of work order workflow. Part 3 we will see workflow in action.

• Work order workflow - Overview – part 1
• Work order workflow – Configure – part 2

Below are see the different buttons and menu items under each action. Prior to submitting, while it is in the task element, while it is in the approval element.

Submit When a work order meets the workflow condition for activation. A yellow ribbon appears at the top of the work order forms. A submit button will show.
Task A task has the following actions. When the clerk has filled in the required information, then they can complete the task.
Approval Approval may have multiple steps or multiple approvers. So, this may cycle through all the approvers.
Automatic task	Automatic task to progress the work order lines to the next status. Set up for the next status is on the Enterprise asset management parameters.

When the work order is progressed through workflow, you will notice there is an Approval status field on the work order table that is update. This will show us what state the workflow is in.

Approval status	Description
Not submitted	Initial status when the work order is not submitted to workflow. All the fields and buttons are enabled.
Submitted	The status when the submit button is clicked. The work order will be locked for editing and deleting. The action buttons such as the status update, apply template are disabled.
Pending completion	Indicates the task has started and is assigned for completion. The work order is open for editing to the assigned user. All other users will not be able to edit the record.
Completed	Indicates the task is complete. The work order is not editable. The action buttons are also disabled.
Pending approval	The work order is in the approval steps and is assigned. It will remain in this status until all the steps are approved. The work order is not editable and the action buttons are disabled. To make any changes required at this stage, the work order must be rejected or a change request be made.
Returned	When the approver clicks the return action it is changed to this status and assigned to the originator to make changes. The originator must then make the changes and re-submit the work order. The work order is editable to the originator only which it is assigned to.
Change request	Similar to the Returned status. This is an action clicked by the approver. A dialog will appear where you can assign the change request to a particular user. Then it can be resubmitted for approval. The work order is editable to the assigned user only.
Approved	The final state the work order can go into. It indicates the workflow is complete and approved. The work order is open for editing and action buttons are enabled. The re-approval functionality will be triggered when the work order is in the Approved status. If the fields set up to trigger re-approval are modified. Then a confirmation dialog will appear asking the user if they wish to continue editing and submit for re-approval.

Next time we will look at re-approval functionality.

Work order workflow – Configure – part 2

In part 1 we did an overview of work order workflow. In part 2 we will do a step by step on how to configure work order workflow.

1. Click on Enterprise asset management/Setup/Enterprise asset management workflows

2. On the Enterprise asset management workflows list page click on the New button.

3. The Work order workflow configuration should be available for selection. Click on the Create workflow  button.

4. Once the workflow configuration form appears. We are ready to set it up.

5. Click on Basic settings button. Enter a Name and Submission instructions.

The name will appear on the yellow ribbon when workflow is active. The submission instruction will appear when user clicks on the information icon

6. On the Activation section, you can set up a condition rule.

The below example has a condition where the work order type is “Ad Hoc”, then this configuration will be used for workflow.

6. Now drag and drop the workflow elements from the left hand side of the screen to the main area of the screen. Then link them up as follows by dragging and dropping from the edge of each element.

Below is an example that uses a

• Review task – This would usually be assigned to the clerk to review and make sure the work order is fine. No missing information etc.
• Approval – This is usually used for financial approvals. We can have multiple steps with in the approval.
• Automated action to update the work order line status – This will progress the work order lines to the Approved status (dont confuse this with workflow approval – this is the work order line status).

7. Right click on the Review work order 1 element and the Property menu item.

Enter a subject and instructions.

Under the assignments tab, I will use Participant (Role based) assignment.

8. Now for the approvals we will go back to the main workflow configuration screen and double click on Approvals. By double clicking you should see this screen below. Allowing you to setup the steps within the approval element.

9. Right click on the Step 1 element and hit the Property menu item.

10. Enter a subject and instructions that will appear for the approver. Then on the assignments tab, select an assignment option and fill in the details.

11. That is it. We can now click on the Save and close. A dialog will appear asking if you want to activate the configuration. Just click yes.

Next post we will see this in action.

Work order workflow – part 1

Over the course of a few posts we will explore work order workflow.

The workflow process moves the work orders through the review process, from an initial status of Not submitted to the final status of Approved. When a work order is submitted for review, the workflow process is started.

This is quite important in organization wanting to put an audit or control their spending. Imagine someone raises a work order which requires $10,000 item. You can’t just do the work with out someone approving it or at least checking it.

Lets have a look at this in a flow diagram to show what scenarios we typically see.

The roles included in the example are:

• Requester – The user who enters the work order and submits it for review.
• Clerk – The user who checks the work order is valid, correct engineering asset is selected, applies a template if required.
• Requesters manager – The user who performs a managerial review such as checking and approving the budgeted costed.

Next time I will go through the set up and show the AX side of things with an example.

Business Intelligence with the Daxeam cube

A cube exists for Daxeam to allow analysis of the budgeted cost and the actual costs for work orders.

Below is a PivotTable I created to compare the budget vs actual costs by the asset type. Then I have a slicer filter by department. I could have prettied this up to analyse over time. Drawn some graphs.

Create a quick graph to compare the costs over time by department.

The matrix below illustrates the dimension relationship in the cube. At the top, you see the measure groups (transactions). On the left, you see the dimensions to analyse by.

More to come in future blog posts on BI.

Using SharePoint document templates in Daxeam

AX2012 introduced the ability of using document templates hosted in SharePoint within the AX document handling. This is a step by step guide on how to add a document type in document handling for use within Daxeam using a SharePoint template library and archive directory.

Configure document type

The first step is to configure a document type. On the document type, the class is set to ‘Template library’. this will enable the selection of a template record from the SharePoint document library. Optionally, it is also possible to configure the document type to save the created file back to SharePoint by setting the Archive directory to SharePoint and specifying the SharePoint URL.

Create document data sources

To get the document templates to appear in the document type, first you have to create your document data sources. This can be done from organization administration:

You are selecting from AOT queries. Don’t worry about the Module value. It is used for display only when selecting the data source in your word template. The example shows two Daxeam data sources created using the EAMAssetList and EAMWorkOrderLine ListPage queries. These will provide you with the main engineering asset and work order line fields.

 

Create word template document

With the document data source in place, a document template can now be created and one or multiple data sources can be selected for use within the template document. If the data sources are not there, check your options, you might not be connected to server. 
 
After the data source has been added, you should see your available fields. Drag and drop your fields into your document and optionally put additional formatting.

 

Saving the document template to a SharePoint library

With the document template created, you can now save this to the SharePoint library that was selected when setting up the document template. Back on the document type, when you now synchronize, the new template is added in and you can activate it (Note that your user must have access to SharePoint for this to work).

 

Using the document type

Back on the engineering asset details page, you can now add a new “Engineering asset details” document. It displays according to the title of the template reference of the document type. This allows you to have multiple templates using the same document type.

A new work doc is created and the data is populated. The document is automatically saved back to SharePoint based on the archive directory settings.