Manage changes to a production control job

You can view and assess the impact of changes caused by importing new or revised drawings or bills of materials into Tekla PowerFab. You can also launch the Trimble Connect model comparison tool to visualize the changes within the project model.

Before the actual import, you can view a summary of changes and decide to accept the changes, reject them, or save them for later.

When the changes are saved for later, they are put on hold so that another person can review them and decide on the appropriate action. When a drawing is on hold, it cannot be worked on until the change has been reviewed and processed.

For instructions for importing files, see Import files to a production control job.

View the summary of revisions

When you are importing files, and revisions are found, the Change Summary dialog opens.

(1) Navigation tree: You can narrow down the list of items shown.

Object Type: Assembly (default), Drawing, All
Change Type: Update (default), Addition, All

If there are no assembly updates in the job, you can see all changes to all items.

(2) View: An alternative way of selecting the Object Type (default Assemblies), Critical Changes Only, and change type (default Updates)

(3) The list of changes

Colors:
- Red: Update not possible
- Yellow: Highlights impacts if import performed
Type: Change type
Drawing #: Drawing number
Main Mark: If the line represents a drawing, this cell is blank. Then the approval status is shown. IH stands for "Import Hold".
Buttons:
- Linked: Yes appears if the material item in the job is linked to a requisition, purchase orders, or inventory, for example. Clicking the button opens the material Links dialog and displays the relevant mark details.
- Tracking: Yes appears if anything in the assembly has piece-tracking entries.
- TFS: Yes appears if anything in the assembly has been taken from stock.
- Shipped: Yes appears if anything from the assembly is on a load.
Hold: When selected, puts the selected item on hold and sets the Approval Status to IH (Import Hold).
Action: Allows you to select and set the desired action for the selected line items
- Allow implements the changes once the import is completed. You can select Allow only if the changes can be made. The changes are applied to the Production Control bill of materials and the associated assembly drawings are updated in the drawing log.
  For changes that cannot be made, you can only select Save for Later or Prevent.
- Save for Later saves the changes and puts the selected items on hold so that they can be reviewed.
- Prevent rejects the changes.
Tip: To customize the grid, right-click it, and select Customize grid.

(4) Quick edit items: Allow you to select and apply actions for multiple rows at once.

Set Selected on Hold: Allows you to place the selected items on hold.
Set Selected Action: Allows you to select Allow, Prevent, or Save for Later in the Action column for the selected items.

(5) Select Assembly in Model: Allows you to launch the Trimble Connect model comparison tool

(6) Summary of changes

(7) Details regarding the changes

(8) Select to create and open a Production Control Change Summary report.

(9) Update links for extended parts: Select to update links through the import cycle if the material length has extended. The checkbox appears when Show option to Update Links for Extended parts in Production Control Company Standards is selected. See Import Settings in Define company standard settings for Production Control.

Manage changes

When you are importing revised drawings or bills of materials, you can review the changes and select the subsequent actions in the Change Summary dialog.

In the navigation tree or View menus, select the object type and change type.
Select one or more changes.

Tip:
To select multiple items, hold down Ctrl.

To select a range of subsequent items, hold down Shift.
To review the impact of a change, click one of the following buttons (optional):
- Linked: Yes appears if the material item in the job is linked to a requisition, purchase orders, or inventory, for example. Clicking the button opens the material Links dialog and displays the relevant mark details.
- Tracking: Yes appears if anything in the assembly has piece-tracking entries.
  Clicking this button opens the Production Status dialog.
- TFS: Yes appears if anything in the assembly has been taken from stock. Clicking this button opens the Production Status dialog.
- Shipped: Yes appears if anything from the assembly is on a load.
  Clicking this button opens the Production Status dialog.
Select one of the following in Actions:
- To implement the change, select Allow. This automatically removes the Hold flag.
- To postpone implementing the change or have someone else to review it, select Save for Later. The item is put on hold.
- To reject the change, select Prevent.
Tip: If you have selected multiple items, you can put all items on hold by selecting Set Selected on Hold or select an action for all of the selected items in Set Selected Action.
To complete the import of the changes with the selected values, click Continue.

While you are importing, changes that affect the items being imported may occur. Then the Continue button changes to Retry.

When you click Retry, this reloads all the changes and reports the new status of the changes.
To confirm your action, select a suitable option.

Manage pending changes in a job

To get an overview of which jobs have pending changes, you can customize the grid in Select <Module> Job to include the Has Pending Changes column.

See Customize the layout of a dialog.

Open a job.

If there are changes that have been saved for later, the dialog shows the Review Pending Changes button.

Red color indicates items that have a hold placed on them. IH status in the App column stands for "Import Hold".
To view changes that have been saved for later, do either of the following:
- Click Review Pending Changes.
- In the Production Control ribbon tab, go to Review > Pending Changes.
The Pending Changes dialog opens showing the change summary.
To review the impact of a change, click one of the following buttons (optional):
- Linked: Yes appears if the material item in the job is linked to a requisition, purchase orders, or inventory, for example. Clicking the button opens the material Links dialog and displays the relevant mark details.
- Tracking: Yes appears if anything in the assembly has piece-tracking entries. Clicking this button opens the Station Summary dialog.
  You can change the piece tracking information for this assembly.
- TFS: Yes appears if anything in the assembly has been taken from stock. Clicking this button opens the TFS Details dialog.
  You can reverse or update the TFS for this part.
- Shipped: Yes appears if anything from the assembly is on a load. Clicking this button opens the Loads dialog.
  You can remove the part or assembly from the load.
Select one of the following in Actions.
- To implement the change, select Allow.
- To postpone implementing the change or have someone else to review it, select Save for Later. The item remains in hold and in Pending Changes.
- To remove the change, select Delete.
Tip: If you have selected multiple items, you can put all items on hold by selecting Set Selected on Hold or select an action for all of the selected items in Set Selected Action.

View changes in Trimble Connect

You can view the changes in Trimble Connect. The comparison model created can interact with the change management view at the assembly and part level.

Note: This feature is only compatible using the PowerFab-eXchange-based import.

Before you start, make sure you have the following in place:

Tekla PowerFab 2023i or later installed. See Download Tekla PowerFab and Install Tekla PowerFab.
Trimble Connect installed. See Install Trimble Connect.
A production control job with revision import (material change) using the Tekla PowerFab eXchange format. See also Tekla PowerFab Exchange.
A Trimble Connect project created and linked to the job. Use Trimble Connect with a production control job

The following procedure is a worked example. Your own results depend on your project and scenario, for example.

When you have imported the files, the Change Summary dialog opens.

To launch the Trimble Connect model comparison tool, do the following:

Highlight the assembly of your choice.
Do one of the following:
- Click Select Assembly in Model.
- Right-click the selected assembly and select the appropriate action in the list that opens.
Trimble Connect model opens with the selected object highlighted showing the changes.

Red contours: Previous model, previous assembly, or part properties

Gray: Current revised model, current revised assembly, or part properties

View change report

In the Change Summary dialog, select View Report.
Click Continue.

The report on the changes opens in Tekla PowerFab Report Viewer. It is automatically saved to the Document Index.

You can also find the location of the report at the end of the log file.