PCO Life Cycle
The life cycle of a PCO is more extensive than that of a PCR, since PCOs typically affect production data.
Creating PCOs
Create PCOs in PCO Maintenance (1.9.2.13). Also use PCO Maintenance to:
• Capture and modify item, product structure, formula, routing, process, and item specification records. You can also create PCOs by copying or combining existing PCOs or PCRs, or by converting PCRs.
• Create a new structure, routing, formula, or process by copying one from production or from within PCC, changing the name, then optionally modifying it.
• Deactivate the first level of a product structure or selected operations for a routing.
Routing for PCOs for Approval
When a PCO is ready for review, comment, and approval, route it using Route PCO for Approval (1.9.2.16). Groups and users who must approve the PCO can be notified by e-mail or printed output that the PCO is ready for review. PCOs that have been routed for approval can be revoked, if necessary, for revision or correction.
Approving PCOs
Use PCR/PCO Approval (1.9.6.1) to monitor the queue of submitted PCOs, add comments, and approve or reject each PCO. Disapproved PCOs can be routed back to reviewers for reapproval. The order of approvals is determined by the routing slip attached to each PCO. Once the PCO has been approved electronically by all necessary personnel, it is ready to be released.
Release and Distribution
You can release only approved PCOs to manufacturing. Use Release and Distribution (1.9.7.1) to monitor the queue of approved PCOs and choose PCOs to release. If necessary, you can revoke approval of a PCO before release and return it for revision or correction.
Once released and distributed, the PCO can no longer be rejected or modified. Any changes affecting the PCO must be released as separate PCOs. At distribution time, the system automatically generates either hard-copy release notices or e-mail for a defined group of users, either immediately or through batch print queues.
Once a PCO has been officially released, the manufacturing organization is responsible for implementing the changes. Engineering can specify a mandatory date for changes, or allow manufacturing to select a changeover date based on least cost, minimum disruption, or other relevant factors.
Incorporating PCOs
Use Incorporation Planning Report (1.9.7.3) to display inventory levels and monetary values of inventory affected by a PCO. This can help in planning effective dates for changes.
Note: An enhanced version of Incorporation Planning Report is available at menu 1.9.7.27 for .NET UI users only.
Use Incorporation Selection (1.9.7.4) to monitor and assign effective dates. Then, incorporate it into production using Incorporation (1.9.7.5). You can modify an effective date by incorporating a PCO again with a different date.
Once a PCO is incorporated, MRP uses the effective dates of product changes to plan future orders. However, until the effective date is reached, PCO changes do not affect current operations.
Implementation
When a PCO’s effective date has arrived and all changed items, product structures, formulas, routings, processes, and item specifications are in production, use Implementation (1.9.7.13) to move the new item revision numbers and other item data into the corresponding item master records.