Summary
Here's how to set up your SKU-Based Business Rules. Please be aware that this is an advanced article. If you want more info before starting this configuration, please see "SKU-Based Business Rules in QM - Overview".
Elements
Since you've been using Quality Management (QM), you should already have:
- Attributes to hold your test results
- QM Programs of various types
- Business Rules available on both the above
- Requirements to gather QM Programs and run them as a single Task
Attributes
To configure the new requirement-level Business Rules that will test each of your individual SKUs, you will likely need to create a few more attributes to cover the variety of your specifications, like thicknesses of bacon or weights of various cookie-types.
In many cases, you will add no Business Rules to your Attributes; the QM Program and Requirement Business Rules will do all the testing. When starting out, this is good practice - it lets the QM Programs manage the Business Rules they contain according to the requirements the QM Programs are in.
QM Programs (Control)
Step 1: For this example, "bacon thickness", we need a thickness Control. Imagine that you've created one called "000-Thickness Checker". You'd go to Configuration > Controls and find that Control, then click the edit gear on its row. Obviously, you can create or use any QM Program you like to follow along with the rest of this.
Step 2: On the Manage Control page, you'd probably see several Applied Attributes, and among them would be ONE Thickness Attribute. Here, instead of setting that single Thickness Attribute up with a set of Business Rules and then moving on to add your next new Control, you will add more Thickness Attributes to THIS Control.
Each of these attributes will provide a framework for another set of Business Rules bound to this same Control. Also, as part of this SKU-Based Business Rules feature, these new attributes will provide that framework for yet another set of Business Rules on each Requirement that runs this Control.
We gave each of the various thickness attributes a unique name by adding a number at the end. A clearer way to do this might be to add a brand-name suffix such as "Thickness1-BobsThinBacon" or "Thickness2-RoyalCutThickBacon". Starting every name with "Thickness..." will group them together in any grid or list, then the suffix will tell you exactly what product is targeted. Farther down, you'll see another scheme you might consider: "Thickness1-Bacon, Thin Cut, Standard", "Thickness2-Bacon, Thick Cut, Standard", etc.
Step 3: Note the new "This attribute has associated requirements" label on each Thickness tile. Click any tile and it will expand to show its current Business Rules. For Thickness tiles, be aware that these Business Rules are at the CONTROL level, not the Attribute level. Click the "Edit Rules" link in the expanded tile and you'll go to a typical Business Rules management page, this one applying to your "000-Thickness Check" Control.
Requirements
Step 4: Navigate to Configuration > Requirements and using 'New', add a unique requirement for each of the variants of your thickness characteristic. A recommended requirement naming format might be "001-Bacon, Thin Cut, Standard"; "002-Bacon, Thick Cut, Standard"; "003-Bacon, Thin Cut, Applewood"; "004-Bacon, Medium Cut, Applewood"; etc., but feel free to use your own scheme. Each requirement will correspond to ONE of your SKUs.
Here's an example of a new requirement. Note the new "Edit Business Rules" link in each Task List tile.
Step 5: When you get to "Quality Management Programs", you'll get a short drop-down of the three types of QM Programs. For our example, you'd pick "Controls", and below the drop-down box you would get a list of all the Controls currently available in your system. Select "000 - 000-Thickness Check" and move it over to the Task List.
Each of your bacon thickness Requirements will contain the same "000 - 000-Thickness Check" Control and perhaps some others as needed. When you're finished creating Requirements for all your bacon thicknesses, your Configuration > Requirements page, filtered for "bacon", will look something like this.
Step 6: Click the edit gear on one of the rows. In this example, we'll pick the top row, "001-Bacon, Thin Cut, Standard", and you'll go to its Manage Requirement page. Click the "Edit Business Rules" link in the "000 - 000-Thickness Check" Control tile.
Step 7: In the QM Program Attributes panel that pops up, note the "Business Rules applied to this Requirement" label is only on the Thickness1 tile.
This is because the Thickness1 Attribute is linked directly to the "001-Bacon, Thin Cut, Standard" Requirement as shown below in your "QM Programs Assigned to Attribute" page. Each of your other Thickness Attributes must be similarly linked to their own individual Requirements.
At this point, if you were to refer back to the Manage "000-Thickness Check" Control page, you'd be able to go to the "Associated Requirements" tab to see all your applied Requirements. You can access them for editing from here, too (note the Editing icon at the end of each row).