Video: Introducing OpenBOM PLM Collaborative Approval Workflow

Have you ever wished there was an easier way to get everyone on the same page when it comes to approving BOM changes and related documentation? Well, your wish has come true! 

OpenBOM has just released a new video showcasing our new PLM Collaborative Approval Workflow. With this workflow, you can easily track and manage approvals for your item and BOM changes, revisions, designs, drawings, and other documentation. Plus, you can do all of this in real-time with your team without concerns that some emails and notifications are stuck in people’s mailboxes because people are not available, focused on other tasks, or unfortunately, got sick. If you are curious to learn more continue to read and watch the video below.

Collaborative Workflow Tool

At OpenBOM we are focusing on how to help manufacturing companies digitally transform their processes by bringing collaborative PLM process management functions that were never possible with other PLM systems. OpenBOM has just released a new video showcasing our new PLM Collaborative Approval Workflow. This innovative workflow allows users to track and manage approvals for Items / BOM revisions using a patented real-time collaborative mechanism and allows multiple people to be involved in the simultaneous approval process management using flexible business rules. Check out our earlier article about the Change Approval Workflows tool and how it can help OpenBOM customers to run product development processes and integrate business processes and manufacturing processes together. Unlike traditional workflow tools, OpenBOM collaborative workflow tools provide a novel user interface that merges data properties and workflow tools together – a powerful collaborative user interface. OpenBOM flexible data management allows you to introduce any type of data into this process and support flexible decision support.

Change Order and Approval Workflow

The foundation of the tool is a collaborative user experience that implements the approval process. OpenBOM company administrator has a way to configure the roles of people involved in the approval process (eg. Approve All, Mandatory and Optional).

Based on these settings, users will be involved in the process of approval to support change management processes (Eg. ECO, MCO). Currently, a single set of settings is supported, but in the next releases, we will introduce multiple sets to provide support for different types of Workflow Process approvals. The definition will be flexible and will bring item and BOM data into Change Order.

The Change Order dashboard is getting a new Approval Workflow button that provides an enhanced way to manage approvals.

From the dashboard, users can see what is included in the change order (all change requests) and can examine each change request using the “review command”. By clicking on “Approval workflow”, the user will get into a new collaborative user interface where he/she will be able to sign-off based on their role. OpenBOM will support the required user experience allowing other people involved in the process of sign-off to see what was approved by other people as well as to see all bottlenecks and delays. Such collaborative user experience will help to streamline PLM processes and prevent product development processes from stucking..

VIDEO Demonstration

Below you can see a video of simple process implementations showing how the OpenBOM PLM system performs the ECO approval process. The process includes one change order, which includes multiple change requests and how it can be approved by three people involved.

Conclusion

A modern manufacturing process demands connected PLM systems that can be used by people located in different places in the world, working sometimes for different companies and supporting flexible business processes. While enterprise software is very complex and usually serves a very large company, OpenBOM SaaS PLM is focusing on how to support a full range of companies from small engineering teams, medium-sized companies, and global enterprises. The approval process in these companies is very different, departments and companies demand to have efficient PLM software capable of making this process agile and lean.

Check out what OpenBOM can do – REGISTER FOR FREE and start a 14-days free trial to explore all product lifecycle management features including new flexible approval process management.

Best, Oleg