Create a product change case

Applies To: Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 R3, Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 R2

This topic describes how to use the product change case functionality in case management to document changes to a product or changes to the entities used in its production. The entities include the product and released product, bill of materials (BOM) or formula, and the production route.

Prerequisites

The following table shows the prerequisites that must be in place before you start.

Create a case category for a product change

Before you can create a product change case, you must create one or more case categories that you will assign to product change cases. When you create a case category and assign it to the product change category type, a Validation rules FastTab is available. This FastTab is not available for other category types. You can enable validation rules to make sure that the information in the case is complete and consistent. For each validation rule, you can specify whether a violation will cause an error message or a warning. An error message must be addressed before a user can close a case. Warning messages do not prevent a user from closing a case.

To create a case category for a product change case, follow these steps:

1. Click Organization administration > Setup > Cases > Case categories.

2. Click New, and select Case category.

3. In the Case category field, enter a name for the category.

4. In the Description field, enter a description of the category.

5. In the Category type field, select Product change.

6. Click the Validation rules FastTab.

7. For each validation rule that you want to use, do the following:

   • Select the Enabled check box.

   • In the Error level field, specify whether a violation will trigger an error or a warning.

8. Optional: Enter information in the remaining fields.

1. Create a product change case for an entity

The product change case is a central location for documenting one or more changes to a product. You can create a product change case and then associate entities, or create a product change case directly from the form for an entity. The entities that you associate with the case are either the cause of the change or the entities that are affected by the change.

To create a product change case for an entity, follow these steps:

1. To create a case from the entity, use one of the following methods:

   • Click Product information management > Common > Released products. Select the released product. On the Action Pane, click the Engineer tab, and then click Create case.

   • Click Inventory management > Common > Bills of materials. Select the BOM, click Product change, and then select Create case.

   • Click Production control > Common > Routes > All routes. Select the route, and then on the Action Pane, click Create case.

2. In the Name field, select the person or organization that you are creating the case for.

3. In the Case category field, expand the Product change node, and then select the case category that you created for product change cases.

4. Optional: To add a note in the case log, click Case log, and then enter information in the Description and Notes fields.

5. Optional: Enter information in the remaining fields.

2. Associate entities with a product change case

There are several ways to associate the entities that are the cause of the change or are affected by the change with a product change case.

• Make the association in the form for the entity by clicking Associate with case on the Action Pane.

• Make the association in the Case form, on the Associations FastTab, by clicking Add, and then specifying the type of entity and its identifier.

• Run the Where-used analysis for an item that is already associated with the case.

3. Find related entities, and associate them with the product change case

After you associate the item that is the cause of the change, you can use the Where-used analysis feature to identify all of the related entities that may be affected by the change. After you run the analysis, you can associate all of the entities in the analysis results with the product change case. You cannot use the Where-used analysis feature to associate single entities.

To run the analysis, follow these steps:

1. Use one of the following methods to open the case that contains the entity to analyze:

   • Click Product information management > Common > Released products. Select the released product. On the Action Pane, click the Engineer tab, and then click All cases. Open the case that contains the entity to analyze.

   • Click Home > Common > Cases > All cases. Open the case that contains the entity to analyze.

2. On the Associations FastTab, select the entity, and then click Where-used analysis.

3. On the Include BOMs and the Routes FastTabs, specify what to include in the analysis.

4. Click Run the analysis.

5. Optional: To add an entry in the case log, on the Case log FastTab, enter a note in the Description and Notes fields.

6. Optional: To associate all of the entities in the analysis with the product change case, click Associate all with the case.

   Note

   When you associate all entities with the case, a message is displayed if one or more entities are already associated with the product change case. The associations are not duplicated for the entities.

4. Optional: Enter additional details in a product change case

You can enter additional information about the product changes in the case log. The process for entering information in the case log varies slightly depending on the form that you are working in. The following procedure describes where you can access the case log.

To enter additional information in a product change case, follow these steps:

• To add information to the case from the form for a specific entity, follow these steps:

  • Released products and All routes forms - On the Action Pane, click the Engineer tab, and then click Add to case log.

  • Bills of materials and Formula forms - Select the BOM or formula, click Product change, and then select Add to case log.

• To add information directly in the case, follow these steps:

  1. Click Home > Common > Cases > All cases.

  2. Enter the information on the appropriate FastTab:

     • Case log – Click Add to create a new case log information line where you can enter the information. Click Details to view the details form for the selected entity.

     • Associations – Click Add to create a new line and add information about an entity that is associated with the case that you are currently working on.

5. Approve, activate, or expire entities in a product change case

You can approve, activate, and expire the entities that are associated with a case as follows:

• You can approve BOMs, formulas, and routes.

• You can approve, activate, and expire BOM versions, formula versions, and route versions. For example, if you are replacing a route, you can expire the replaced route version, approve, and then activate the new route version. You can also approve and activate formula versions where only co-products or bi-products are affected.

To approve, activate, or expire entities in a product change case, follow these steps:

1. Click Home > Common > Cases > All cases.

2. Select the case, and then click Approve and activate changes.

3. In the Planned effective date field, select the date when you want the change to take effect. By default, the current date is suggested.

   Note

   The planned effective date applies to the entities associated with the case. If needed, you can override the planned effective date for individual BOM versions, formula versions, and route versions.

4. Click Validate to check the completeness and consistency of the product change case.

5. In the Action field for each entity, select the action that you want to apply, and then click Apply actions.

   Tip

   After you apply the action, one way to verify that all changes are made is to use the filters. For example, you can select a released product in the Component in BOMs or formulas filter to display only BOMs and routes that include that component.

Technical information for system administrators

If you don't have access to the pages that are used to complete this task, contact your system administrator and provide the information that is shown in the following table.

See also

About product change cases