Prerequisite for the use of the Material workflow designer the knowledge of the iPlus designer tool. If you already read topics about the iPlus designer tool, you can continue with the next chapter: Material workflow designer. But if you haven't read the documentation about iPlus designer tool yet, you must read the following chapters:

• Edit Workflows
• VBDesigner
• VBDesignerWorkflow

In the material workflow designer you can create a new or edit a existing material workflow.

 

 

Add a new material workflow

1. Open the module BSOMaterialWF (in the main menu under: master data->material workflow).
2. Click the New  Button create a new material workflow.
3. Click the Save  Button to save your changes.

 

Change the number of the material workflow

1. To do this, open the context menu over the diagram and click "Tools-> designmode on".  Alternatively, you can also click the design icon (1) in the status bar. After it has started flashing click on the innermost red highlighted screen frame that borders the workflow diagram.
2. The write-protection of the "Workflow No."-field is removed.
3. Change the number and leave the field.
4. Click the Save  Button to save your changes.

 

Design Material-Workflow

1. Turn the design mode back on.
2. Resize the root node (outermost border) to the size you want. To do this, select the node. Move the mouse to one of the corners so that the "resize" tool (two Arrows) appears and enlarge the node by holding down the left mouse button.
3. Display the tool window on the left side of the Screen. The tool window consists of a toolbar (2) (see also section "tool window") and a list of intermediate products (3). Intermediate products are materials that have the "is an intermediate" indicator. You manage these in the Material management (Menu "Masterdata->Material").
4. For a new material workflow, the diagram is initially empty. To get an intermediate product on the diagram, select it in the intermediate list and drag it onto the design surface using "drag & drop". Important: You must always start with the intermediate product that will be the last intermediate product later!
5. Add another intermediate by dropping it on the already existing node (4). It automatically becomes the predecessor and an intermediate relationship in the form of a Line/edge is Inserted.
6. The third intermediate product can now be either dropped
   • on one of the two nodes (then a new predecessor is inserted as a new branch)
   • or on the edge (5) (intermediate product relationship). The new intermediate is inserted between the two nodes.
7. Save the changes.
8. Turn off the design mode.

 

Deleting intermediate product nodes

Open the context menu on the node (Intermediate product) and click "Delete". Alternatively, select the node and click on the small triangle at the top right to open the context menu.

 

Deleting edges

Open the context menu on the edge and click "Delete". Alternatively, select the edge and click on the small triangle at the top right to open the context menu.

 

Video guide:

How to edit a material workflow

Remember the following rules so that you can better understand the designer and its behavior:

1. In contrast to normal workflows, material workflows are not program sequences! Therefore no loops can be built.
2. Material workflows are tree structures and can have multiple starting nodes and always end in a end node (last intermediate).
3. Therefore, create material workflows from the back to the front (or from bottom to top). In other words - work backward from the last intermediate to the first intermediate product.
4. Deleting an edge always results in its predecessor being deleted as well. In other words, deleting an intermediate relationship results in the automatic deletion of its predecessor.
5. Delete edges only from the beginning to the end (forward) because edges can only be deleted if their predecessors have no other predecessors.