An engineered product can change during its lifecycle. However, often, these changes do not require a new product. You can use engineering versions of a product to manage these changes.

Important

• In engineering version management, a product variant is treated in the same way as a product. So, each product variant has its own engineering versions.
• In engineering version management, you must define the resource requirements for the route operations on the engineering versions of the released products. Resource requirement setup on the engineering versions of product masters in the engineering company is not included in the release of products.

Setup

To create a version-controlled product, assign an engineering product type to the product on product creation. As a result, the created product has at least one engineering version. On the engineering product type:

• You define the applicable version number rule for the engineering product type. This version number rule defines how the version numbers for the related products are defined.
• You can define to which product status another version number rule is applied. So, if the product is changed to this status, a new version number is assigned based on the defined version number rule.
• You can define a product dimension group. In engineering version management, to set up:
  • Imprecise engineering (engineering versions are only traced in engineering): you do not use a product dimension group, or you use a product dimension group for which the Version dimension is inactive.
  • Precise engineering (engineering versions are also traced in logistical transactions and in BOM lines): use a product dimension group for which the Version dimension is active.

On the Product engineering parameters, on the Engineering version tab, set Allow invalid versions to Yes if invalid engineering versions can be used in transactions. This parameter applies if:

• On creation of a transaction, no valid engineering versions are found. In this case, the latest engineering version is used.
• In precise engineering, you manually select or change to an invalid engineering version on a transaction.

Engineering versions

With engineering version management, you can:

• For each engineering version, manage the related engineering data, like BOM, route, or drawings. Usually, you create a new engineering version of a product if the required changes do not change the form, fit, or function of the product. For example:
  • A component is no longer available and must be replaced by a substitute.
  • An omission in the original design.
  • New insights.
• Define which engineering versions are valid when. On the engineering version, use these fields to define if it is valid:
  • Active: set to Yes if the engineering version is available for use.
  • Effective from and Effective to: with these dates, define the period during which the engineering version is available for use.
• In imprecise engineering, trace the engineering change history of a product during its lifecycle. So, you can easily find which changes you have made during the product lifecycle and what the differences between the engineering versions are. For example, if a customer reports an issue with a product, it is important to know on which engineering version of the product the issue is reported.
• In precise engineering, also trace and use the engineering version data in logistical transactions. So, you can make sure to ship the right engineering version of a product. For example:
  • You want to first ship the old engineering versions of a product.
  • If a customer orders a quantity of three, you want to make sure that all three products have the same engineering version.
• In case of imprecise engineering, the changes will always be done on the latest version of a product whereas in Precise engineering, it is allowed to choose the version that will be impacted by engineering change order.

Manage engineering versions

You manage the engineering versions of a product with engineering change orders. On an engineering change order, you define the impact of a change on a product. Choose the impact:

• None if the change must be done to the current engineering version. If you finish the engineering change order, the changes are applied to the current engineering version.
• New version if a new engineering version of the product is required. If you finish the engineering change order, a new engineering version is created for the product. The changes are applied to the new engineering version.
• New product if a new product is required. If you finish the engineering change order, a new product is created with its own engineering version.

 

Use engineering versions in transactions

If you create a logistical transaction (manually or automatically), and you select an engineering-controlled product (variant), the valid engineering version is automatically filled. The search is done in this way:

• If only one valid engineering version exists, this one is taken.
• If several valid engineering versions exist, the latest one is taken. So, the one with the highest version number is taken. For example, the product has two valid engineering versions: V-002 and V-003. In this case, version V-003 is taken.
• If no valid engineering version exists, the version is not filled.

In precise engineering, you can manually change the engineering version on transactions. If, on the Product engineering parameters, on the Engineering version tab, Allow invalid versions is set to:

• No, you can only change the engineering version to another valid engineering version.
• Yes, you can also change the engineering version to an invalid engineering version.