What are SKU-Based Business Rules?
To more efficiently support QM Programs usable for testing multiple products (in any class), and to reduce the number of QM Programs you must manage, we've introduced another "level" of configurability where you can create and apply alternative sets of Business Rules. We've added this to the Requirements page.
Why did we create this feature?
The original version of Quality Management (QM) required its own set of QM Programs per product (SKU), even if that item was simply a variant in a class of items. This could lead to very large lists of Controls, Prerequisites, and Misc. Logs.
Bacon is an example of a "class" – there are many bacon products, but all of them have mostly the same characteristics, varying rarely.
Why use SKU-based Business Rules?
Within a single QM Program, you can create Attributes with Business Rules for each variation of the characteristic you are tracking. Bacon can be cut into any number of different thicknesses, so creating various Business Rules (instead of QM programs) is beneficial.
Key Concepts
Hierarchy
Here is the basic hierarchy of configuration for SKU-Based Business Rules:
Note that in the layout above, there are now three different levels where you can set Business Rules. Also, each level can have different Rules, if you need them to be that way.
In managing SKU-Based Business Rules, learn to think in terms of those "three levels" shown above.. From the top down, this is "Requirement Business Rules", "QM Program Business Rules", and "Attribute Business Rules". This is also the order of influence the three sets of Business Rules have in the system.
Business Rules Level Indicator
Each of the three "Business Rules" pages has an indicator row at the top, showing what level of Business Rules you're working with on that page. See the image below.
- After you create and Save an Attribute, when you go to its Business Rules page, you'll see only the "Attribute" entry on the left.
- Then, if you go to your Attribute's "QM Programs Assigned to Attribute" page and click the Business Rules icon on any existing QM Program row that DOES NOT have an entry in its Requirement Name column, you'll go to a Business Rules page that has both "Attribute" and a QM Program Type (in this case, "Control") at the top.
- And finally, if you decide to apply some Business Rules to the requirement that will run the QM Program in the detail above, you'll be able to go into that Requirement and click the appropriate QM Program, which will list all of the Program's Attributes for editing. Then you can apply Requirement-level Business Rules to those Attributes. Once done, when you return to the Business Rules page, you'll see "Attribute", "Control" , and "Requirement" as shown below.
Multiple Levels of Business Rules - Definitions (From Top Down)
Requirement: A list of QM Programs, consisting of one or more QM Programs, Attributes, and Business Rules, which will be periodically run on a production line.
You can use this level as a "temporary configuration" so that you can briefly override your Attributes' and your QM Programs' typical Business Rules for a limited or special production run. Otherwise leave them permanently set up. Presence of Requirement-level Biz Rules on one of the Requirement's QM Program's Attributes will pre-empt the subsequent Rules applied to the QM Program and to its Attribute.
QM Program (a Control, a Prerequisite, or a Misc Log) is a set of attributes which have business rules run IF the REQUIREMENT containing the QM Program has NO Business Rules on that attribute.
Attributes can be applied to zero, one, or many QM Programs.
If a single QM Program is linked to the Attribute more than one time (as exemplified below with Attribute "Thickness1"), all but one of its links must also include a Requirement. Each of the Requirement Names will represent ONE of your SKUs, and any QM Program link-row with NO Requirement Name will test the Item using ONLY the QM Program's Direct Business Rules, or finding none, the Attribute's.
If NONE of the levels above have any Business Rules at all, then the Attribute is really only "collecting", not evaluating, unless the Attribute itself has a Normalization Script ("Norm Sql Script" on the Manage Attribute page). Most Norm Scripts will likely alter the format of the data in some way.
Accessing the Three Different Business Rules Pages
Attribute Level
Configuration > Attributes. Click the gear icon (Edit Record) on the Attribute grid-row whose Business Rules you want to manage. Go to the bottom of the "Manage..." page and click "Configure Business Rules".
QM Program Level
Configuration > Controls/Prerequisites/Misc Logs. Click the gear icon (Edit Record) on the QM Program grid-row whose Business Rules you want to manage. On the "Manage..." page click the Applied Attribute tile whose Business Rules you want to view or edit. The row will expand as shown by the green area below (the change to green does not occur in the actual system - this is just to help you see what the expansion will look like). In the expanded area, click the "Edit Rules" link.
Requirement Level
Configuration > Requirements. As mentioned above, the Requirements Level is the "topmost level" in terms of Business Rules. Any Business Rules applied here will pre-empt QM Program- or Attribute-level Rules. Click the gear icon (Edit Record) on the Requirement grid-row whose Business Rules you want to view or edit, then click "Edit Business Rules".
In the image above that the "Assign Schedule" toggle is set to "On". It's default is "Off" but if you want to run this set of tests regularly at some interval, setting it to "On" will open configuration boxes that allow you to do that. It's completely up to you! Also, if you have the "Task Schedule" tab at the top of your page, you might want to investigate its abilities.
Clicking the "Edit Business Rules" link as shown above will open the following pop-up. Click anywhere on an Attribute tile that has the "Business Rules applied to this Requirement" label on it to expand that tile vertically. This will show its Business Rules, if any. Click the "Edit Requirement Rules" link to go to the actual Requirement-level Business Rules page.
An Advisory
Click on any other tile in the QM Program Attributes panel and the "Edit Requirement Rules" link will show up there as well.
And if you click it, it will take you to a Business Rules page. But note the mismatch on that page, shown below. "Thickness2" is an Attribute already defined as a "Thick Cut", but you would be applying a Requirement defined as "Thin Cut" to it.
This MAY be a setup you want to use, but in dealing with SKU-Based Business Rules please be very aware of "where you are" to avoid mistakes.
Next steps: Configuring SKU-Based Business Rules