& Construction
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Integrated BIM tools, including Revit, AutoCAD, and Civil 3D
& Manufacturing
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Professional CAD/CAM tools built on Inventor and AutoCAD
Integrated BIM tools, including Revit, AutoCAD, and Civil 3D
Professional CAD/CAM tools built on Inventor and AutoCAD
In this lesson, we’ll walk you through creating new item numbering rules according to an example part numbering scheme. We’ll then demonstrate how the numbering is applied as items are created to confirm that rules are being applied correctly.
Consider what your desired item numbering scheme is and map this out in a document ahead of time.
In this video, we’ll discuss what an item is and the different parts of the item data model.
Transcript
00:09
In this video, we'll discuss what an item is, item types, and the different parts of the item data model.
00:16
So, let's take a look.
00:19
What is an item?
00:21
Before we can begin configuring item numbering rules, we need to understand what an item is.
00:28
An item represents one object in a design.
00:31
It is one level in a bill of materials that can be a part, assembly, subassembly, or end item, which is a top-level item with no parent.
00:42
Think of an item like a box.
00:44
It contains all data associated with 1 object in a product design, including attributes, which is your metadata,
00:53
CAD models and drawings, non-CAD documentation, translations, visualizations and markups.
01:02
It is not just a CAD file.
01:04
This means that an item can contain no CAD files or drawings if necessary.
01:12
What are item types and what are they for?
01:16
You are provided with a set of default item types.
01:20
Item types help to broadly categorize the purpose and function of the item.
01:25
This allows users, at a quick glance, to determine whether the items are mechanical or electrical, parts or assemblies,
01:34
purchased or manufactured, and so on.
01:40
The default item types are Assembly, Electrical Package, Manufactured Item,
01:49
Product Structure Item, Purchased Electrical Parts, Purchased Electromechanical Parts,
01:56
Purchased Mechanical Parts, Purchased Phantom Assembly, Software Package, Subassembly, and Virtual Item.
02:06
You don't have to use all of the above item types, and you can request different item types if you wish by reaching out to Upchain Support.
02:14
However, we recommend that you keep this list as simple as possible to reduce complexity and therefore user error, in how you manage your data.
02:24
Upchain provides you with many default item attributes and you can create your own custom attributes,
02:30
and or categorization to allow you to fully describe and classify your items in more detail.
02:37
You are not limited to the item type and item number to provide this information.
02:47
What is the item data model?
02:50
The item data model is the full representation of the item that includes its unique identifier,
02:57
and information about what stage of its life cycle it's at.
03:02
When an item is created, it is assigned an item number.
03:08
This number uniquely identifies the item and stays with it for its entire lifecycle.
03:15
Because of this, it is sometimes referred to as the item master.
03:19
This is the first part of the item data model.
03:24
Please note, once an item number is assigned, it can never be changed or used again for different items.
03:34
Though we've used the term "Item Number", the number itself can include numbers, letters and certain special characters based on your desired format.
03:43
You can also configure different item numbering rules based on division and item type.
03:49
We'll explore this later on in this course.
03:53
The item master only forms part of the full item data model.
03:58
Items also contain a major and minor revision.
04:02
These two components identify what stage of its life cycle the item is at and how many release and revision cycles it has been through.
04:19
While it is up to your organization to decide how these two components are implemented,
04:25
typically, the major revision represents a design evolution of the item master that is commonly known as a customer facing revision.
04:35
We don't mean the daily design changes that happen as the item is being created and finalized.
04:40
This is captured in the CAD file versions, but rather a significant change that occurs after an item has been finalized or released.
04:54
The minor revision represents an evolution of the item major revision that is commonly known as an internal or administrative revision.
05:06
You might need to make changes to an item for reasons other than design changes,
05:10
such as missing dimensions on drawings, attribute changes or documentation updates.
05:19
The last part of the item data model is the item version.
05:24
The item version represents the version of the item at a specific major and minor revision level.
05:32
Item versions allow branching of the same item revision,
05:36
but will typically be version 1 for items in development and will always be version 0 for items that are released.
05:44
You'll often see it represented as shown here, like V0, V1, V2, and so on,
05:51
but occasionally you'll see it represented as a decimal at the end of the item data model, such as .000, .001, .002, and so on.
06:08
Let's look at an example.
06:12
Consider this item.
06:15
The 10-12345 at the beginning is the item master, and its format follows the rules set up in this tenant.
06:26
AA is the major revision.
06:29
By default, it is represented by a double alpha character sequence that starts at double XX when the item is new,
06:38
and increments to AA at its first release, and subsequently AB, AC, and so on.
06:49
By default, it is represented by a double numeric character sequence that starts at double XX when the item is new,
06:57
and increments to 00 at the first release, and subsequently 01, 02, and so on, if multiple minor revisions have occurred.
07:08
In the above, in the above example, the item has been through a major release to first set it to AA,
07:16
and then a subsequent minor release to increment the minor revision to 1.
07:23
The version at the end is version 1, so this means that the item must be in development.
07:33
Now that we have established the key concepts of the item, item type, major and minor revision, and version,
07:40
keep going to learn how all of this comes into play when configuring the item numbering rules in your tenant.
Video transcript
00:09
In this video, we'll discuss what an item is, item types, and the different parts of the item data model.
00:16
So, let's take a look.
00:19
What is an item?
00:21
Before we can begin configuring item numbering rules, we need to understand what an item is.
00:28
An item represents one object in a design.
00:31
It is one level in a bill of materials that can be a part, assembly, subassembly, or end item, which is a top-level item with no parent.
00:42
Think of an item like a box.
00:44
It contains all data associated with 1 object in a product design, including attributes, which is your metadata,
00:53
CAD models and drawings, non-CAD documentation, translations, visualizations and markups.
01:02
It is not just a CAD file.
01:04
This means that an item can contain no CAD files or drawings if necessary.
01:12
What are item types and what are they for?
01:16
You are provided with a set of default item types.
01:20
Item types help to broadly categorize the purpose and function of the item.
01:25
This allows users, at a quick glance, to determine whether the items are mechanical or electrical, parts or assemblies,
01:34
purchased or manufactured, and so on.
01:40
The default item types are Assembly, Electrical Package, Manufactured Item,
01:49
Product Structure Item, Purchased Electrical Parts, Purchased Electromechanical Parts,
01:56
Purchased Mechanical Parts, Purchased Phantom Assembly, Software Package, Subassembly, and Virtual Item.
02:06
You don't have to use all of the above item types, and you can request different item types if you wish by reaching out to Upchain Support.
02:14
However, we recommend that you keep this list as simple as possible to reduce complexity and therefore user error, in how you manage your data.
02:24
Upchain provides you with many default item attributes and you can create your own custom attributes,
02:30
and or categorization to allow you to fully describe and classify your items in more detail.
02:37
You are not limited to the item type and item number to provide this information.
02:47
What is the item data model?
02:50
The item data model is the full representation of the item that includes its unique identifier,
02:57
and information about what stage of its life cycle it's at.
03:02
When an item is created, it is assigned an item number.
03:08
This number uniquely identifies the item and stays with it for its entire lifecycle.
03:15
Because of this, it is sometimes referred to as the item master.
03:19
This is the first part of the item data model.
03:24
Please note, once an item number is assigned, it can never be changed or used again for different items.
03:34
Though we've used the term "Item Number", the number itself can include numbers, letters and certain special characters based on your desired format.
03:43
You can also configure different item numbering rules based on division and item type.
03:49
We'll explore this later on in this course.
03:53
The item master only forms part of the full item data model.
03:58
Items also contain a major and minor revision.
04:02
These two components identify what stage of its life cycle the item is at and how many release and revision cycles it has been through.
04:19
While it is up to your organization to decide how these two components are implemented,
04:25
typically, the major revision represents a design evolution of the item master that is commonly known as a customer facing revision.
04:35
We don't mean the daily design changes that happen as the item is being created and finalized.
04:40
This is captured in the CAD file versions, but rather a significant change that occurs after an item has been finalized or released.
04:54
The minor revision represents an evolution of the item major revision that is commonly known as an internal or administrative revision.
05:06
You might need to make changes to an item for reasons other than design changes,
05:10
such as missing dimensions on drawings, attribute changes or documentation updates.
05:19
The last part of the item data model is the item version.
05:24
The item version represents the version of the item at a specific major and minor revision level.
05:32
Item versions allow branching of the same item revision,
05:36
but will typically be version 1 for items in development and will always be version 0 for items that are released.
05:44
You'll often see it represented as shown here, like V0, V1, V2, and so on,
05:51
but occasionally you'll see it represented as a decimal at the end of the item data model, such as .000, .001, .002, and so on.
06:08
Let's look at an example.
06:12
Consider this item.
06:15
The 10-12345 at the beginning is the item master, and its format follows the rules set up in this tenant.
06:26
AA is the major revision.
06:29
By default, it is represented by a double alpha character sequence that starts at double XX when the item is new,
06:38
and increments to AA at its first release, and subsequently AB, AC, and so on.
06:49
By default, it is represented by a double numeric character sequence that starts at double XX when the item is new,
06:57
and increments to 00 at the first release, and subsequently 01, 02, and so on, if multiple minor revisions have occurred.
07:08
In the above, in the above example, the item has been through a major release to first set it to AA,
07:16
and then a subsequent minor release to increment the minor revision to 1.
07:23
The version at the end is version 1, so this means that the item must be in development.
07:33
Now that we have established the key concepts of the item, item type, major and minor revision, and version,
07:40
keep going to learn how all of this comes into play when configuring the item numbering rules in your tenant.
In this video, we’ll show you how to set up a simple item numbering rule in Upchain.
Transcript
00:09
In this video, we'll show you how to set up simple item numbering rules in Upchain.
00:14
So, let's take a look.
00:18
At our example company, we have been using a fairly complex part numbering scheme that has been used primarily to identify the part or assembly type.
00:29
For example, an item number might look like this, where the 10 at the beginning indicates the part type,
00:38
the 01 in the middle is free text to subclassify the part type, if required.
00:44
And the 12345 at the end is a system generated sequence of numbers in context of the part type.
00:57
We have this part type list already established with the following prefixes.
01:04
As you can see, there are quite a few, and we would like to translate this to item numbering rules in Upchain.
01:16
Please note that we recommend that you keep your item numbering rules as simple as possible and not create separate rules for every single item type.
01:27
This is because item numbers cannot be changed once assigned.
01:32
If the wrong item type was chosen when it was created, and then changed to a different item type later,
01:38
this would not be reflected in the item number.
01:43
In general, the more complex the rules are, the more room there is for error when creating and importing your data into Upchain.
01:51
Without some significant effort, Upchain will not recognize different item types during data import and item creation,
01:59
and instead assign the default item types of assembly and manufactured item.
02:04
And therefore, many of your rules wouldn't be applied.
02:14
So, instead, consider using custom item attributes and or categorization to properly describe and classify your items.
02:25
You do not need to rely on the item number to provide this information within Upchain.
02:31
You can learn more about this later on in this course and in our help documentation.
02:39
So, following this recommendation, let's set up an item numbering scheme in Upchain that simply creates one rule for assemblies,
02:50
one rule for parts, and one rule for electrical.
02:55
Everything else will simply use the default numbering rule.
03:01
When configuring the item number, it is always best practice to not allow leading zeros.
03:07
This is because if anyone wants to work with the bill of materials or export the bill of materials to an Excel spreadsheet,
03:14
it often doesn't represent numbers with leading zeros correctly and you may run into issues later on.
03:25
When building an item numbering rule, it must also contain a major and minor revision representation.
03:32
We'll use two digits for both.
03:35
Note that you don't have to use the minor revision if you don't want to,
03:40
but it is always part of the item numbering rule in Upchain, an item data model.
03:45
You can simply ignore it, and it will be set to its default value anytime an item is released.
03:55
So, given all of that, our rules should look something like this.
04:06
Each rule begins with a prefix that indicates the general category of item type, followed by a sequence number,
04:14
some free text to allow some flexibility in specifying the subclass of item type, and the major and minor revision represented by double digits.
04:25
Any other item type that doesn't fall into one of these categories can use the default numbering scheme already in place in Upchain.
04:35
Now, let's build these rules into Upchain.
04:39
You'll find this in the item numbering section of the administration page.
04:44
Here, you'll see the default rule.
04:47
This is because there has to be something in place to begin numbering items, even if no other rules are in place yet.
04:54
As soon as you start publishing your own rules, these will override the default rule.
05:03
Begin by clicking the "Add New Rule" button.
05:07
You can create a rule for a specific division if you are using divisions at your organization.
05:15
This means you can easily identify which division created an item based solely on the item number.
05:22
However, you need to reach out to Upchain support to configure divisions within your tenant.
05:38
You can also create one rule for a specific item type or multiple item types.
05:44
This means you can also easily identify the item type based on its number.
05:53
In our example, we are keeping it simple and creating one rule for parts, one rule for assemblies, and one rule for electrical items.
06:02
So, first, let's set up this rule for assemblies.
06:07
This will include the following default item types, assembly, product structure, purchase phantom assembly, and subassembly.
06:22
So, you simply need to select each one and they are added to the rule.
06:27
Let's skip major and minor revision configuration for a moment and instead configure how the numbering scheme will work for this particular rule.
06:41
For this rule, we want the number to begin with the AM prefix, so we're going to choose fixed text.
06:50
And the field beside it is where we add what the fixed text will be.
06:58
Then we'll add a delimiter and we'll choose the dash which is the default.
07:03
But you can see here that there are several other options available.
07:10
We then need a system generated sequence of numbers.
07:17
We are going to choose context sequence in this case, and we want it to be five digits long where the sequence will start from 10000.
07:32
Context sequence is different to regular sequence in that the next number generated is based on the context of the rest of the item number,
07:41
in our case the leading AM.
07:51
We'll then add another delimiter as a dash, and finally some free text so that we can still use our old prefixes if needs be.
08:06
It is possible to leave the free text portion empty when creating a new item.
08:15
It is good practice to have a default value filled in for the free text.
08:20
This is so that the CAD importer does not fail to create items when bulk uploading data.
08:27
The registration using this tool fails if there is no default value for the free text.
08:37
Once you have your item numbering rule in place, you can hover your mouse over the preview icon to make sure that the rule looks correct.
08:47
So, we've got our AM prefix, a sequence of numbers, and free text at the end all separated by a dash.
08:55
That looks correct.
08:58
Now, let's set the major and minor revision representation.
09:04
You can choose one or two digits or characters for both major and minor revisions.
09:15
The default for major is two characters, and the default for minor is two digits.
09:23
For our example, we will use two digits for both major and minor, the major and minor revision.
09:30
If you were to choose characters instead, you can further specify which letters to exclude.
09:38
These might typically be letters that could be mistaken for numbers.
09:42
For instance, the ASME's official recommendation is to exclude the following letters.
09:53
I, O, Q, S, X, and Z.
10:04
You can also specify if Upchain should continue into an additional digit or character,
10:10
if you reach the end of the sequence for major or minor revisions.
10:15
For example, if you chose to use a single character for the major revision, this option would allow it to continue to AA after Z was reached.
10:29
For our rule, we'll choose two digits for both the major and the minor revision, and there is nothing to exclude.
10:36
We're also going to tick the boxes to extend the length for both.
10:43
Once you're happy with your rule, click the "Create" button.
10:50
Your rule is now listed in the custom rules table.
10:55
Here you can now see what division the rule is for, the item types, what the rule looks like,
11:02
the major and the minor revision, and the version of the rule.
11:08
This is not the item version, but the version of the rule.
11:15
Rules are managed in a similar way to workflow versions in that only one version can be published at a time.
11:27
You can see right here that the rule is still in a draft state.
11:31
That means it is not yet active and items will not use that rule when they are created.
11:39
Let's repeat this process for our two other rules.
12:33
You can now see all rules you've created in the table, which includes a preview of the rule.
12:40
They are all still in a draft state.
12:43
While the rule is still in draft, you can edit it further until you are happy with the format of that rule.
12:58
Now, in order for these rules to take effect, they must be published.
13:04
To do this, click the menu icon next to the rule and click publish.
13:11
Once published, the rule cannot be changed.
13:15
You can still click on it to view it, but there is no option to edit anymore.
13:21
If you need to make further changes to a published rule, you must first create a new version of the rule.
13:31
You can then make changes to the new version and then publish that new version so that it becomes the one that takes effect.
13:43
As you're publishing, Upchain also ensures that your rules do not conflict with one another.
13:49
In other words, if Upchain detects that two rules control the numbering scheme for the same item types in the same divisions,
13:58
it would not allow you to publish them both at the same time.
14:11
Here are some example items that were created using our published rules.
14:20
Notice that the sequence numbers generated for the three assembly items take into account the context of the rest of the item number,
14:28
both the fixed and free text parts, and only increment when the context is the same as before.
14:36
Also notice that parts and electrical items also have their own context when generating their next sequence number.
14:47
Lastly, if you simply do not want to use a rule anymore, you can set it to "Inactive".
15:02
What that means is any item types listed as part of that rule would instead switch over to using the default rule.
15:11
Note this only applies for new items created after the rule is made inactive.
15:16
All items already created keep their assigned number.
15:23
And that's it. The process of creating the rules is simple.
15:27
But you should certainly spend some time considering what you want your rules to look like,
15:31
and how you are going to translate your own rules to those in Upchain.
15:36
When in doubt, keep it simple.
15:39
You can always build up complexity later.
Video transcript
00:09
In this video, we'll show you how to set up simple item numbering rules in Upchain.
00:14
So, let's take a look.
00:18
At our example company, we have been using a fairly complex part numbering scheme that has been used primarily to identify the part or assembly type.
00:29
For example, an item number might look like this, where the 10 at the beginning indicates the part type,
00:38
the 01 in the middle is free text to subclassify the part type, if required.
00:44
And the 12345 at the end is a system generated sequence of numbers in context of the part type.
00:57
We have this part type list already established with the following prefixes.
01:04
As you can see, there are quite a few, and we would like to translate this to item numbering rules in Upchain.
01:16
Please note that we recommend that you keep your item numbering rules as simple as possible and not create separate rules for every single item type.
01:27
This is because item numbers cannot be changed once assigned.
01:32
If the wrong item type was chosen when it was created, and then changed to a different item type later,
01:38
this would not be reflected in the item number.
01:43
In general, the more complex the rules are, the more room there is for error when creating and importing your data into Upchain.
01:51
Without some significant effort, Upchain will not recognize different item types during data import and item creation,
01:59
and instead assign the default item types of assembly and manufactured item.
02:04
And therefore, many of your rules wouldn't be applied.
02:14
So, instead, consider using custom item attributes and or categorization to properly describe and classify your items.
02:25
You do not need to rely on the item number to provide this information within Upchain.
02:31
You can learn more about this later on in this course and in our help documentation.
02:39
So, following this recommendation, let's set up an item numbering scheme in Upchain that simply creates one rule for assemblies,
02:50
one rule for parts, and one rule for electrical.
02:55
Everything else will simply use the default numbering rule.
03:01
When configuring the item number, it is always best practice to not allow leading zeros.
03:07
This is because if anyone wants to work with the bill of materials or export the bill of materials to an Excel spreadsheet,
03:14
it often doesn't represent numbers with leading zeros correctly and you may run into issues later on.
03:25
When building an item numbering rule, it must also contain a major and minor revision representation.
03:32
We'll use two digits for both.
03:35
Note that you don't have to use the minor revision if you don't want to,
03:40
but it is always part of the item numbering rule in Upchain, an item data model.
03:45
You can simply ignore it, and it will be set to its default value anytime an item is released.
03:55
So, given all of that, our rules should look something like this.
04:06
Each rule begins with a prefix that indicates the general category of item type, followed by a sequence number,
04:14
some free text to allow some flexibility in specifying the subclass of item type, and the major and minor revision represented by double digits.
04:25
Any other item type that doesn't fall into one of these categories can use the default numbering scheme already in place in Upchain.
04:35
Now, let's build these rules into Upchain.
04:39
You'll find this in the item numbering section of the administration page.
04:44
Here, you'll see the default rule.
04:47
This is because there has to be something in place to begin numbering items, even if no other rules are in place yet.
04:54
As soon as you start publishing your own rules, these will override the default rule.
05:03
Begin by clicking the "Add New Rule" button.
05:07
You can create a rule for a specific division if you are using divisions at your organization.
05:15
This means you can easily identify which division created an item based solely on the item number.
05:22
However, you need to reach out to Upchain support to configure divisions within your tenant.
05:38
You can also create one rule for a specific item type or multiple item types.
05:44
This means you can also easily identify the item type based on its number.
05:53
In our example, we are keeping it simple and creating one rule for parts, one rule for assemblies, and one rule for electrical items.
06:02
So, first, let's set up this rule for assemblies.
06:07
This will include the following default item types, assembly, product structure, purchase phantom assembly, and subassembly.
06:22
So, you simply need to select each one and they are added to the rule.
06:27
Let's skip major and minor revision configuration for a moment and instead configure how the numbering scheme will work for this particular rule.
06:41
For this rule, we want the number to begin with the AM prefix, so we're going to choose fixed text.
06:50
And the field beside it is where we add what the fixed text will be.
06:58
Then we'll add a delimiter and we'll choose the dash which is the default.
07:03
But you can see here that there are several other options available.
07:10
We then need a system generated sequence of numbers.
07:17
We are going to choose context sequence in this case, and we want it to be five digits long where the sequence will start from 10000.
07:32
Context sequence is different to regular sequence in that the next number generated is based on the context of the rest of the item number,
07:41
in our case the leading AM.
07:51
We'll then add another delimiter as a dash, and finally some free text so that we can still use our old prefixes if needs be.
08:06
It is possible to leave the free text portion empty when creating a new item.
08:15
It is good practice to have a default value filled in for the free text.
08:20
This is so that the CAD importer does not fail to create items when bulk uploading data.
08:27
The registration using this tool fails if there is no default value for the free text.
08:37
Once you have your item numbering rule in place, you can hover your mouse over the preview icon to make sure that the rule looks correct.
08:47
So, we've got our AM prefix, a sequence of numbers, and free text at the end all separated by a dash.
08:55
That looks correct.
08:58
Now, let's set the major and minor revision representation.
09:04
You can choose one or two digits or characters for both major and minor revisions.
09:15
The default for major is two characters, and the default for minor is two digits.
09:23
For our example, we will use two digits for both major and minor, the major and minor revision.
09:30
If you were to choose characters instead, you can further specify which letters to exclude.
09:38
These might typically be letters that could be mistaken for numbers.
09:42
For instance, the ASME's official recommendation is to exclude the following letters.
09:53
I, O, Q, S, X, and Z.
10:04
You can also specify if Upchain should continue into an additional digit or character,
10:10
if you reach the end of the sequence for major or minor revisions.
10:15
For example, if you chose to use a single character for the major revision, this option would allow it to continue to AA after Z was reached.
10:29
For our rule, we'll choose two digits for both the major and the minor revision, and there is nothing to exclude.
10:36
We're also going to tick the boxes to extend the length for both.
10:43
Once you're happy with your rule, click the "Create" button.
10:50
Your rule is now listed in the custom rules table.
10:55
Here you can now see what division the rule is for, the item types, what the rule looks like,
11:02
the major and the minor revision, and the version of the rule.
11:08
This is not the item version, but the version of the rule.
11:15
Rules are managed in a similar way to workflow versions in that only one version can be published at a time.
11:27
You can see right here that the rule is still in a draft state.
11:31
That means it is not yet active and items will not use that rule when they are created.
11:39
Let's repeat this process for our two other rules.
12:33
You can now see all rules you've created in the table, which includes a preview of the rule.
12:40
They are all still in a draft state.
12:43
While the rule is still in draft, you can edit it further until you are happy with the format of that rule.
12:58
Now, in order for these rules to take effect, they must be published.
13:04
To do this, click the menu icon next to the rule and click publish.
13:11
Once published, the rule cannot be changed.
13:15
You can still click on it to view it, but there is no option to edit anymore.
13:21
If you need to make further changes to a published rule, you must first create a new version of the rule.
13:31
You can then make changes to the new version and then publish that new version so that it becomes the one that takes effect.
13:43
As you're publishing, Upchain also ensures that your rules do not conflict with one another.
13:49
In other words, if Upchain detects that two rules control the numbering scheme for the same item types in the same divisions,
13:58
it would not allow you to publish them both at the same time.
14:11
Here are some example items that were created using our published rules.
14:20
Notice that the sequence numbers generated for the three assembly items take into account the context of the rest of the item number,
14:28
both the fixed and free text parts, and only increment when the context is the same as before.
14:36
Also notice that parts and electrical items also have their own context when generating their next sequence number.
14:47
Lastly, if you simply do not want to use a rule anymore, you can set it to "Inactive".
15:02
What that means is any item types listed as part of that rule would instead switch over to using the default rule.
15:11
Note this only applies for new items created after the rule is made inactive.
15:16
All items already created keep their assigned number.
15:23
And that's it. The process of creating the rules is simple.
15:27
But you should certainly spend some time considering what you want your rules to look like,
15:31
and how you are going to translate your own rules to those in Upchain.
15:36
When in doubt, keep it simple.
15:39
You can always build up complexity later.
In this video, we’ll show you how to set up a more complex item numbering scheme that relies on item types in Upchain.
Transcript
00:08
In this video, we'll show you how to set up more complex item numbering rules that rely on item types.
00:15
So, let's take a look.
00:19
At our example company, we have been using a fairly complex part numbering scheme that has been used primarily to identify the part or assembly type.
00:29
For example, a number might look like this, where the 10 at the beginning indicates the part type,
00:37
the 01 in the middle is free text to subclassify the part type if required,
00:43
and the 12345 is system generated sequence of numbers in context of the part type.
00:52
We have this part type list already established with the following prefixes.
00:58
As you can see, there are quite a few and we would like to translate this to item numbering rules in Upchain.
01:11
Please note that we recommend that you keep your item numbering rules as simple as possible and not create separate rules for every single item type.
01:22
This is because item numbers cannot be changed once they are assigned.
01:27
If the wrong item type was chosen when it was created and then changed to a different type later, this would not be reflected in the item number.
01:36
In general, the more complex the rules are, the more room there is for error when creating and importing your data into Upchain.
01:45
Without some significant effort, Upchain will not recognize different item types during data import and item creation,
01:53
and instead assign the default item types of assembly and manufactured item and therefore many of your rules wouldn't be applied.
02:04
So instead, consider using custom item attributes and or categorization to properly describe and classify your items.
02:15
You do not need to rely on the item number to provide this information within Upchain.
02:21
You can learn more about this later on in this course and in our help documentation.
02:32
However, we understand it is entirely possible that you're coming to use Upchain with a well-established item numbering scheme already,
02:41
where your organization and all of your downstream stakeholders are still expecting items to continue to follow these rules.
02:49
So, we can certainly create an item numbering scheme in Upchain that reflects that complexity.
02:57
Now, for this example, we are still going to use the provided default item types.
03:03
And since the recommendation is still that we try to simplify our rules as much as possible,
03:09
let's combine a number of our part types into one item type in Upchain, as shown here.
03:15
For example, top level assemblies will be product structure items, module assemblies will be the assembly item type,
03:24
purchase items will be purchased mechanical parts, and so on.
03:29
We'll still use the broad category prefix for these different rules,
03:33
and we'll also use the free text part to allow the user to differentiate the different sub item types if necessary.
03:44
We'll also use two digits to represent both the major and the minor revisions.
03:53
Let's go ahead and create these rules in Upchain.
05:41
And there is our set of rules.
05:44
You can see that we've managed to condense our extensive list of rules into these seven rules,
05:50
and they still have the flexibility to specify subtypes using the free text if needs be.
05:58
Now, in order for these rules to take effect, they must be published.
06:03
So, let's go ahead and publish each rule.
06:09
You'll find the publish option in the menu beside each rule.
06:18
Remember that Upchain won't allow you to publish rules that conflict with each other, not including the default rule.
06:26
Now, because we didn't specify the correct item type in our last rule, it is conflicting with all of the other rules we've already published.
06:38
But it is still in a draft state, so that means we can still edit it to correct the rule and select the correct item types.
06:49
So, let's go ahead and do that.
06:53
Click the "Edit" button.
06:55
Now select the correct item type from the drop-down menu and click "Save".
07:05
Now, it should publish correctly.
07:07
Once published, the rules cannot be changed.
07:11
If you need to make further changes to a published rule, you must create a new version of the rule first.
07:17
And if we no longer wanted that rule in place, we could set it to "Inactive".
07:26
And that's how we can set up a more complicated set of rules.
07:30
The process of creating more complex rules is simple, even if you have quite a few rules you'd like to create.
07:36
You can see it just took us a bit more time.
07:39
But you should certainly spend some time considering what you want your rules to look like,
07:43
and how you are going to translate your own rules to those in Upchain.
07:47
Again, when in doubt, keep it simple.
07:50
You can always build up complexity later if needs be.
Video transcript
00:08
In this video, we'll show you how to set up more complex item numbering rules that rely on item types.
00:15
So, let's take a look.
00:19
At our example company, we have been using a fairly complex part numbering scheme that has been used primarily to identify the part or assembly type.
00:29
For example, a number might look like this, where the 10 at the beginning indicates the part type,
00:37
the 01 in the middle is free text to subclassify the part type if required,
00:43
and the 12345 is system generated sequence of numbers in context of the part type.
00:52
We have this part type list already established with the following prefixes.
00:58
As you can see, there are quite a few and we would like to translate this to item numbering rules in Upchain.
01:11
Please note that we recommend that you keep your item numbering rules as simple as possible and not create separate rules for every single item type.
01:22
This is because item numbers cannot be changed once they are assigned.
01:27
If the wrong item type was chosen when it was created and then changed to a different type later, this would not be reflected in the item number.
01:36
In general, the more complex the rules are, the more room there is for error when creating and importing your data into Upchain.
01:45
Without some significant effort, Upchain will not recognize different item types during data import and item creation,
01:53
and instead assign the default item types of assembly and manufactured item and therefore many of your rules wouldn't be applied.
02:04
So instead, consider using custom item attributes and or categorization to properly describe and classify your items.
02:15
You do not need to rely on the item number to provide this information within Upchain.
02:21
You can learn more about this later on in this course and in our help documentation.
02:32
However, we understand it is entirely possible that you're coming to use Upchain with a well-established item numbering scheme already,
02:41
where your organization and all of your downstream stakeholders are still expecting items to continue to follow these rules.
02:49
So, we can certainly create an item numbering scheme in Upchain that reflects that complexity.
02:57
Now, for this example, we are still going to use the provided default item types.
03:03
And since the recommendation is still that we try to simplify our rules as much as possible,
03:09
let's combine a number of our part types into one item type in Upchain, as shown here.
03:15
For example, top level assemblies will be product structure items, module assemblies will be the assembly item type,
03:24
purchase items will be purchased mechanical parts, and so on.
03:29
We'll still use the broad category prefix for these different rules,
03:33
and we'll also use the free text part to allow the user to differentiate the different sub item types if necessary.
03:44
We'll also use two digits to represent both the major and the minor revisions.
03:53
Let's go ahead and create these rules in Upchain.
05:41
And there is our set of rules.
05:44
You can see that we've managed to condense our extensive list of rules into these seven rules,
05:50
and they still have the flexibility to specify subtypes using the free text if needs be.
05:58
Now, in order for these rules to take effect, they must be published.
06:03
So, let's go ahead and publish each rule.
06:09
You'll find the publish option in the menu beside each rule.
06:18
Remember that Upchain won't allow you to publish rules that conflict with each other, not including the default rule.
06:26
Now, because we didn't specify the correct item type in our last rule, it is conflicting with all of the other rules we've already published.
06:38
But it is still in a draft state, so that means we can still edit it to correct the rule and select the correct item types.
06:49
So, let's go ahead and do that.
06:53
Click the "Edit" button.
06:55
Now select the correct item type from the drop-down menu and click "Save".
07:05
Now, it should publish correctly.
07:07
Once published, the rules cannot be changed.
07:11
If you need to make further changes to a published rule, you must create a new version of the rule first.
07:17
And if we no longer wanted that rule in place, we could set it to "Inactive".
07:26
And that's how we can set up a more complicated set of rules.
07:30
The process of creating more complex rules is simple, even if you have quite a few rules you'd like to create.
07:36
You can see it just took us a bit more time.
07:39
But you should certainly spend some time considering what you want your rules to look like,
07:43
and how you are going to translate your own rules to those in Upchain.
07:47
Again, when in doubt, keep it simple.
07:50
You can always build up complexity later if needs be.
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