4.2 Lifecycles

The “Lifecycle”, a product status, is a special attribute of an item (part or document). It indicates how the item may be used, e.g. whether it is old and cannot be used anymore, or whether it is planned but not yet available for use. The lifecycle status cannot be edited by a user; rather, an engineering change order must be issued to change it (or later, when we implement them, a manufacturing change order).

There are two types of lifecycle statuses: a preliminary status and a released status. In a preliminary status, the object is freely editable. Every object is preliminary when it is first created or newly revised. In then assumes the target lifecycle specified on the ECO when the ECO is released, in accordance with the rules of the lifecycle defined for the class or subclass.

A lifecycle is an object.

The list of statuses consists of entries of the following form:

Each lifecycle must have at least one preliminary and one released status. The first status must be preliminary. There can only be one transition from a preliminary to a released status, and only one transition from a production to an obsolete status. Objects in a preliminary state may be deleted, whereas objects in a non-preliminary state may not be deleted.

As an example, a company might decide to define a “Default Part Lifecycle“ for parts. It might consists of the following statuses:

 

 

 

 

 

 

Default Part Lifecycle

Lifecycle Status

Type

Explanation

Preliminary

Preliminary

used for initial creation, freely editable

Prototype

Released

used for initial build and testing; parts may be ordered to build but the end product may not be sold

Production

Released

part is approved for manufacturing and sale to customers

Obsolete

Obsolete

the part is no longer manufactured

 

 

Different part subclasses may, however, require different lifecycles. The above lifecycle makes sense for a complex assembly that a company manufactures, but may not make sense for simple commodity parts that it orders from vendors. For such parts, they may define a simpler lifecycle, “Buy Part Lifecycle“:

Buy Part Lifecycle

Lifecycle Status

Type

Explanation

Preliminary

Preliminary

used for initial creation, freely editable

Purchasing

Released

Pending full vendor qualification and testing, may be ordered in small quantities for testing

Production

Released

part is approved for use in manufacturing and may be ordered in large quantities

EOL

Obsolete

the part may not be used in new designs, but does not need to be replaced in existing designs

Obsolete

Obsolete

The part can no longer be ordered or used in any designs

In the above case, the Part Class would have the “Default Part Lifecycle”, and by default all part subclasses would inherit this, but certain subclasses would have the “Buy Part Lifecycle” assigned by the administrator. Any given class or subclass can have only one lifecycle.

Manage Lifecycles interface allows users to manage lifecycles. Users can add or Delete a lifecycle and add or delete phases.

 

To create a new Lifecycle:

       I.          Go to “Admin” menu

     II.          Select “Lifecycles

The “Manage Lifecycle” dialog contains two sides. On side, you will see the Lifecycle stages and on the other side, there is the Phases that each Lifecycle has.

    III.          On the left pane, Lifecycles pane, give a name

    IV.          Click the “Add” button on the left pane, Lifecycles pane

     V.          On the right pane, “Phases” pane, give a Phase name and select a Phase Type, i.e. Preliminary, Released, or Obsolete

    VI.          Click the “Add” button the right pane, Phases pane

  VII.          Click the “Save” button to  save the newly created Lifecycle with Phases