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In this lesson, we’ll explore the purpose of Investigation requests, how to create them, and how to access and action them.
In this video, we’ll discuss and explore Investigation requests (IRs) in Upchain, including their purpose, how to create one, and where to find them if you are assigned to one.
Any referenced datasets can be downloaded from "Module downloads" in the module overview.
Transcript
00:05
In this video,
00:06
we'll discuss and explore investigation requests in Upchain,
00:09
including their purpose,
00:10
how to create one,
00:12
and where to find them if you are assigned to one.
00:16
So let's take a look.
00:21
An investigation request is used to track problems with the product
00:25
or suggest enhancements to be made.
00:28
Investigation requests may be created by anyone working within your project
00:32
because anyone in your team
00:34
may identify issues or opportunities for improvement.
00:38
Typically,
00:39
investigation requests represent the first stage in the change process,
00:43
but can also be used to simply assign work to team members.
00:46
Investigation requests can be assigned to a specific team member
00:50
to notify them of the identified problem,
00:53
potential change,
00:53
or work to be done.
00:56
An investigation request can be created
00:58
from many different places throughout Upchain
01:01
to allow all users,
01:03
regardless of license or role,
01:04
to create one.
01:06
Typically,
01:07
you would associate a specific item with an investigation request as well,
01:11
so that the assignee of the investigation request
01:14
knows exactly what data needs to be investigated and worked on.
01:18
You can create a new IR from many different places,
01:22
including
01:23
the BOM table in the web application.
01:35
The 3D viewer,
01:37
after markups are made,
01:38
if required.
01:47
The PDF viewer,
01:49
again after markups are made,
01:50
if required.
01:59
In the business processes section of a project.
02:06
Under the investigation request tab.
02:18
Right here,
02:19
this one requires an extra step of copying and pasting an item
02:23
into the investigation request.
02:31
From
02:32
search results.
02:37
From the menu
02:39
on an item's detail view.
02:48
And
02:48
the project BOM tab of the mechanical CAD plug-in, if that's where you're working.
02:57
In all cases,
02:58
the same information needs to be filled out.
03:01
Let's create one for our drone assembly
03:03
and assign it to our mechanical designer.
03:16
First,
03:16
select the type.
03:18
It is designed by default
03:20
and should be this when initiating design changes.
03:24
Supplier RFQ is used
03:26
to send a request for quote for quote to an external supplier.
03:32
Input a name and description.
03:35
These are used to clearly describe the changes to be made,
03:39
be as detailed as possible so the assignee
03:42
knows what to do.
03:55
You can choose a priority so that the assignees know
03:59
how to prioritize their work.
04:02
Choose an assignee,
04:04
we will choose our mechanical designer.
04:09
You can only choose someone on your project team.
04:12
Choose a workflow
04:13
to govern the investigation request life cycle.
04:16
We're going to choose the system
04:18
workflow provided for us.
04:21
Choose a start date if required.
04:23
This is a
04:25
target for the assignee for when they should begin addressing the issue.
04:32
You can also associate additional documentation from your computer
04:36
or from the project if it already has documentation,
04:40
if it's relevant for this investigation request.
04:48
Click the create and start button
04:51
to create the investigation request
04:54
and begin the investigation request workflow.
05:03
We've chosen to use the system workflow in our example,
05:07
and it is quite simple.
05:14
The workflow is started as soon as we click the create and start button.
05:20
The status of the investigation request is updated to work in progress,
05:25
so that others know what state it's at.
05:28
A task is sent to the assignee
05:30
to perform the investigation.
05:36
After they perform their assigned task,
05:38
they would click the button investigation complete,
05:42
and it moves on to update the status to approval pending,
05:46
and then a decision task is sent to the investigation request creator
05:51
to approve the work that's been done
05:54
or request further work.
05:56
If they
05:56
reject the work being done,
05:59
the workflow starts again from the beginning,
06:01
sending the task back to the assignee.
06:04
If they approve the work,
06:06
then the investigation request status
06:09
is updated to complete
06:11
and the workflow finishes.
06:14
Don't worry about learning the specific workflow in detail.
06:17
Your up chain administrator may create new
06:19
workflows specific to your organization's business processes.
06:24
More information on creating markups in the viewers
06:27
can be found in our bill of materials courses,
06:31
and creating investigation requests information can be
06:35
found in our help center articles.
06:43
Logged in now as the assignee of the investigation request,
06:47
we can find the assigned task in a variety of locations.
06:53
The first place you'd likely see that you have a task is your email inbox.
06:58
This outlines
06:59
the basic information that was filled out on that investigation
07:03
request with a link directly to that investigation request.
07:09
On the main dashboard
07:10
under the my assignment section,
07:12
you can see your task there.
07:18
On the projects
07:20
design dashboard
07:22
in the my assignment section.
07:24
Again,
07:24
you can see your task there.
07:28
And
07:29
if you work in the
07:31
mechanical CAD plug-in,
07:33
you'll see your task in the my assignments tab.
07:37
Under a project
07:39
Under work orders.
07:45
Again,
07:45
this is only if you use the mechanical CAD plug in.
07:52
All investigation requests for a project,
07:54
regardless of the assignee
07:56
can be found in the business processes section of the projects.
08:02
Under the investigation request tab.
08:12
This is a useful way for all team
08:14
members to review all ongoing and completed investigation requests
08:18
within this project.
08:22
We can then click on an investigation request
08:26
to read more information about what we're meant to do,
08:29
and what items,
08:30
if any,
08:31
are meant to be worked on.
08:36
You can see any documentation
08:39
in this tab
08:41
and which items
08:43
are assigned
08:44
to this investigation request in the items tab here.
08:51
Once you have found your assigned investigation request,
08:54
let's zoom out a bit here.
08:56
It's then a case of addressing the change outlined in the description.
09:00
In this example,
09:01
we're asked to revise
09:03
the two side components on the main body of the drone to make them more aerodynamic.
09:08
These items contain CAD,
09:10
as we've seen,
09:11
so, we will
09:12
address this investigation request
09:15
in the mechanical CAD plug-in,
09:18
in a later video.
09:24
Here again in the items tab,
09:26
you can see both the item
09:28
and the CAD file
09:29
that is associated to that item.
09:35
In the next lessons,
09:37
we'll learn how to revise a released item
09:39
to be able to address the change requested in this investigation request.
Video transcript
00:05
In this video,
00:06
we'll discuss and explore investigation requests in Upchain,
00:09
including their purpose,
00:10
how to create one,
00:12
and where to find them if you are assigned to one.
00:16
So let's take a look.
00:21
An investigation request is used to track problems with the product
00:25
or suggest enhancements to be made.
00:28
Investigation requests may be created by anyone working within your project
00:32
because anyone in your team
00:34
may identify issues or opportunities for improvement.
00:38
Typically,
00:39
investigation requests represent the first stage in the change process,
00:43
but can also be used to simply assign work to team members.
00:46
Investigation requests can be assigned to a specific team member
00:50
to notify them of the identified problem,
00:53
potential change,
00:53
or work to be done.
00:56
An investigation request can be created
00:58
from many different places throughout Upchain
01:01
to allow all users,
01:03
regardless of license or role,
01:04
to create one.
01:06
Typically,
01:07
you would associate a specific item with an investigation request as well,
01:11
so that the assignee of the investigation request
01:14
knows exactly what data needs to be investigated and worked on.
01:18
You can create a new IR from many different places,
01:22
including
01:23
the BOM table in the web application.
01:35
The 3D viewer,
01:37
after markups are made,
01:38
if required.
01:47
The PDF viewer,
01:49
again after markups are made,
01:50
if required.
01:59
In the business processes section of a project.
02:06
Under the investigation request tab.
02:18
Right here,
02:19
this one requires an extra step of copying and pasting an item
02:23
into the investigation request.
02:31
From
02:32
search results.
02:37
From the menu
02:39
on an item's detail view.
02:48
And
02:48
the project BOM tab of the mechanical CAD plug-in, if that's where you're working.
02:57
In all cases,
02:58
the same information needs to be filled out.
03:01
Let's create one for our drone assembly
03:03
and assign it to our mechanical designer.
03:16
First,
03:16
select the type.
03:18
It is designed by default
03:20
and should be this when initiating design changes.
03:24
Supplier RFQ is used
03:26
to send a request for quote for quote to an external supplier.
03:32
Input a name and description.
03:35
These are used to clearly describe the changes to be made,
03:39
be as detailed as possible so the assignee
03:42
knows what to do.
03:55
You can choose a priority so that the assignees know
03:59
how to prioritize their work.
04:02
Choose an assignee,
04:04
we will choose our mechanical designer.
04:09
You can only choose someone on your project team.
04:12
Choose a workflow
04:13
to govern the investigation request life cycle.
04:16
We're going to choose the system
04:18
workflow provided for us.
04:21
Choose a start date if required.
04:23
This is a
04:25
target for the assignee for when they should begin addressing the issue.
04:32
You can also associate additional documentation from your computer
04:36
or from the project if it already has documentation,
04:40
if it's relevant for this investigation request.
04:48
Click the create and start button
04:51
to create the investigation request
04:54
and begin the investigation request workflow.
05:03
We've chosen to use the system workflow in our example,
05:07
and it is quite simple.
05:14
The workflow is started as soon as we click the create and start button.
05:20
The status of the investigation request is updated to work in progress,
05:25
so that others know what state it's at.
05:28
A task is sent to the assignee
05:30
to perform the investigation.
05:36
After they perform their assigned task,
05:38
they would click the button investigation complete,
05:42
and it moves on to update the status to approval pending,
05:46
and then a decision task is sent to the investigation request creator
05:51
to approve the work that's been done
05:54
or request further work.
05:56
If they
05:56
reject the work being done,
05:59
the workflow starts again from the beginning,
06:01
sending the task back to the assignee.
06:04
If they approve the work,
06:06
then the investigation request status
06:09
is updated to complete
06:11
and the workflow finishes.
06:14
Don't worry about learning the specific workflow in detail.
06:17
Your up chain administrator may create new
06:19
workflows specific to your organization's business processes.
06:24
More information on creating markups in the viewers
06:27
can be found in our bill of materials courses,
06:31
and creating investigation requests information can be
06:35
found in our help center articles.
06:43
Logged in now as the assignee of the investigation request,
06:47
we can find the assigned task in a variety of locations.
06:53
The first place you'd likely see that you have a task is your email inbox.
06:58
This outlines
06:59
the basic information that was filled out on that investigation
07:03
request with a link directly to that investigation request.
07:09
On the main dashboard
07:10
under the my assignment section,
07:12
you can see your task there.
07:18
On the projects
07:20
design dashboard
07:22
in the my assignment section.
07:24
Again,
07:24
you can see your task there.
07:28
And
07:29
if you work in the
07:31
mechanical CAD plug-in,
07:33
you'll see your task in the my assignments tab.
07:37
Under a project
07:39
Under work orders.
07:45
Again,
07:45
this is only if you use the mechanical CAD plug in.
07:52
All investigation requests for a project,
07:54
regardless of the assignee
07:56
can be found in the business processes section of the projects.
08:02
Under the investigation request tab.
08:12
This is a useful way for all team
08:14
members to review all ongoing and completed investigation requests
08:18
within this project.
08:22
We can then click on an investigation request
08:26
to read more information about what we're meant to do,
08:29
and what items,
08:30
if any,
08:31
are meant to be worked on.
08:36
You can see any documentation
08:39
in this tab
08:41
and which items
08:43
are assigned
08:44
to this investigation request in the items tab here.
08:51
Once you have found your assigned investigation request,
08:54
let's zoom out a bit here.
08:56
It's then a case of addressing the change outlined in the description.
09:00
In this example,
09:01
we're asked to revise
09:03
the two side components on the main body of the drone to make them more aerodynamic.
09:08
These items contain CAD,
09:10
as we've seen,
09:11
so, we will
09:12
address this investigation request
09:15
in the mechanical CAD plug-in,
09:18
in a later video.
09:24
Here again in the items tab,
09:26
you can see both the item
09:28
and the CAD file
09:29
that is associated to that item.
09:35
In the next lessons,
09:37
we'll learn how to revise a released item
09:39
to be able to address the change requested in this investigation request.
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