Articles on: Solution Template Installation Guides

MRO Material Management

Last Updated: August 25, 2021

Solution Template Guide Contents



I. Setting up the Template
II. Editing the Workflow Template
III. Viewing the Solution
IV. Testing the Solution
V. Customizing the Template

Solution Overview


Streamline the material request process for your MRO workflows. Make sure that the necessary materials are aligned with the correct work order details to minimize error in data handling. This solution template is focused on attaching material request details to already existing work orders on your records or database. Also, this solution template can be further configured and improved to tailor it to your own organization's workflow.

How to Install the MRO Material Management Template



I. SETTING UP THE TEMPLATE



Before starting with the following step, make sure that you can access the Builder user view. Only Builders can create Solutions on Steer.

Step 1: On the Steer dashboard, click on Create button at the top of your screen. 

Fig. 1: Selecting the "Create" button on the Steer dashboard

Step 2: Select Use Template on the module creation window. 

Step 3: Select Use Template beside MRO Material Management on the list of solution templates. 

Note: If the solution template doesn’t show on the list, remove all filters on the left panel under Solutions  and Industry and check All under Category.


Step 4: In the Information Setup, fill up the Name and Category fields. You can also add a short Description to give the users an idea of what your solution template is all about. 


Step 5: Under Workflows, click Edit beside the selected workflow template to rename it. Think of a unique and appropriate name for your Workflow, then select a Category. You may also add a short Description and put Tags on your Workflow.  

Fig. 2.1: Scroll down the Information Setup pane to edit the Workflow Template name

Fig. 2.2: Renaming the Workflow Template name

Once you are done, click Save, and it will take you back to the Information Setup window. 

Step 6: Once all details are complete, click Proceed to configure your forms in Form Builder and Process Flow. 



II. EDITING THE WORKFLOW TEMPLATE



Step 1: Form Builder


HOW THE FORM BUILDER WORKS: The Form Builder is a series of form sections that are shared by different persons involved in the workflow process. Each form section (e.g. Work Order Details, Work Order Material, Additional Materials, etc.) is designed with a specific Actor in mind, who is meant to edit or review the details in the said form section that will be further discussed in the following step.
On the Form Builder, update the details that you want to appear on your forms based on the template provided. You can add or remove rows and/or columns from the template and then drag and drop elements from the toolbox to the designated fields accordingly.  

Fig. 3: MRO Material Management Form Builder preview

For this template, you will see the following predesigned form sections relevant to MRO Material Management:

Work Order Details
Work Order Material
Additional Materials
Materials Checklist
Release Confirmation


These form sections are designed for users to fill up information regarding different work orders. Similarly, this form will also be used by the Line Leader and the Department Manager to review and approve the details of the request.

You may click on the Monitor icon beside the Preview bar at the top of the window to enable Desktop view and simulate filling up the fields on your form before proceeding with the next step.

Once you are finished on the Form Builder, click Proceed on the upper-right corner of the window.  

Step 2: Process Flow


HOW THE PROCESS FLOW WORKS: The Process Flow allows you to design each step in your workflow and assign a user to review the pieces of information from the Form Builder for each step.
On the Process Flow, you can now design the necessary steps and actions down from the first until the very last step of the process in your workflow. The solution template already has the Actors, Processes, and Action Cards filled in for you. However, you can still update each element to tailor it to your goals and workflow. 

Fig. 4: MRO Material Management Process Flow preview
For this template, you have the following Actors or personnel meant to supervise each step in the process:

Line Leader: In charge of sending material request based on existing work orders
Department Manager: Oversees the planning and procurement of materials needed and approves the submitted request
Warehouse Staff: Prepares the materials needed for the work order
Warehouse Supervisor: Reviews and approves all aspects of the material request for releasing

Once you are finished, click on Proceed on the upper-right corner of the window. 

Note: The Automation layer is on by default to automate updating data from your records. You can skip the automation process by leaving the automation action row blank. You can learn more about automation and how you can configure it by setting rule triggers here.

Tip: If you would like to add, delete, or modify fields and elements such as adding Actors and Process Steps, you may do so to make your Solution more appropriate to your workflow. You can learn more about adding and modifying fields on the Form Builder here.

Step 3: User Settings



HOW THE USER SETTINGS WORK: The User Settings ties in the form sections from the Form Builder and the Actors from the Process Flow. You will be able to configure how each Actor in the process sees the form sections with three options: Write, Edit, or Hide. In other words, each Actor can only access particular sections of the form based on the configurations that you set on User Settings. For example, the Line Leader may only edit the Work Order Details and Work Order Material form. In this case, you will need to tick the Write checkbox for that form section and remove the Write access to other Actors, and so on.
On the User Settings, you can now assign individuals or groups in your team or organization specific access and permission settings for each step in the workflow.

Fig. 5: Configuring User Settings

You can decide which users can edit and/or see particular sections of the Form. After configuring the User Settings, you will need to Assign Viewers to the workflow.

Once you finished assigning users to every step, you can now click Publish on the upper-right hand corner of the window to finalize your Workflow. 

III. VIEWING THE SOLUTION



Once you published your workflow, your Solution will appear under the Solutions section in the dashboard. You can manually search for the MRO Material Management solution from the dashboard by scrolling down and clicking Next to cycle through the alphabetically sorted Solutions available to you. Or, you can also type the name of the solution on the Search bar.



Fig 6: Viewing a Solution from the Steer dashboard
You can view the list of available Records in the template by clicking on the Record title. Then, you can start to manually add or import your data from an existing Excel file or you may also edit, delete, or export data into an Excel file on your chosen Record.

If you are the Record Owner, you can directly add data to the records and set who has the rights to access this form. If you encounter a blank record page, you can check out the Members tab to see the Record Owner and ask them to give you access to the record.

IV. TESTING THE SOLUTION



Step 1: Submitting a Case Request


On Steer, it is always a part of the process to test your new Solutions to ensure that it is working the way you designed it to be. This will rule out any problem that may occur, such as misaligned Record – Workflow data, misplaced form fields, or inappropriate user form access that may lead to more problems down the line. With this, testing your Solution always starts with submitting a case Request.

Step 1: Switch to Internal User view to allow case submission feature.

Fig. 7: Submitting a Case via Internal User view

Step 2: Click on Request at the top of the page.

Step 3: Look for the Workflow name of your Solution and select it.

Step 4: Check all fields: When viewing the form, check all fields, most importantly advanced form elements, such as dropdown elements, radio buttons, search/filter, and cascading, if any, to make sure that all field configurations are working correctly.

Step 5: Check User Access – Form appropriateness. For example, you may have incorrectly set user access to your forms, or you see one or several form sections that should be hidden from the requestor. In this case, you need to edit the access settings of your workflow.

Step 6: After checking all form fields, you can now submit your case. You may choose to leave all fields blank, except for fields that you have marked as required.

Step 2: Viewing the Task Board


Viewing your Task Board allows you to monitor the cases on a selected workflow. In this stage of testing your template, we will check if our case has gone through our workflow and if it is correctly located at the lane where it’s supposed to be.

Step 1: On the Builder Dashboard, search for your newly-created Solution name, then select your published Workflow to view its Workflow Details.

Step 2: Click on the Taskboard tab to view the Task Board.

Step 3: Simulating the Solution via the Work Board


Viewing your Work Board allows you to take action to the tasks or case requests assigned to you.

Here is how you can simulate a workflow process via the Work Board:

Step 1: Create a test version of your Solution Template and include yourself in every process in the User Settings. This test version functions as the prototype Solution before you finalize it for your organization’s use.

To do this, you must ensure that:
You are an approver for each Process Step on the Workflow.
You apply appropriate User Settings to each Form Section (i.e., check Write, Read, or Hidden to each Form Section as required for each Actor supervising each Process Step). This allows you to view and edit the appropriate form as each Actor should during the process.

Step 2: Once you publish your test Solution, submit a case.

Step 3: Monitor the location of your case and check if it is in the correct lane via the Taskboard.

Step 4: Go to the Workboard and process the case assigned to you and repeat Step 3.

Note: If you can’t see the case request on your Workboard, check on the Task Lists on the left panel of the Workboard if the correct lane is selected under Sort by. If not, select the appropriate lane to process the case.

Step 5: Repeat Steps 3 and 4 for each action until all the process lanes are covered. If issues persist, like cases moving to incorrect lanes after approving them, check if you have correctly mapped out your process via the Process Flow designer.

V. CUSTOMIZING THE TEMPLATE



Steer’s Solution Templates are designed to cater to various use cases, allowing them to be used immediately and with minimal modifications. They also come with Record Apps that are predesigned for their specific business solution. However, each organization has its own unique business process. For example, businesses that may use the MRO Material Management Solution template have their own way of recording their information, be it digitized (Excel sheets or any computerized form of documentation) or analog (using pen and paper for manual recording).

There are various ways that you can edit the Solution Templates and here are some of the ways that you can further customize them.

Customization points for Solution Templates may vary:
For different businesses, the same workflow may take more or less Actors or Steps to be completed. In this case, focus on improving your Process Flow design.
Similarly, you might need to have more or less Form Fields either on your Records Designer or Form Builder.

You may still edit your Record once they are published. To do this:

Step 1: Go to Record App that you would like to edit (e.g., MRO Parts and Materials, MRO Work Order, MRO Work Order Material, etc.).

Step 2: If there are any data on the Record app, especially if it already contains your organization’s data Export it first as an Excel file. This way, you will have a backup copy of your data saved on your local drive.

Step 3: Once you have successfully exported and downloaded the Excel version of your Record App, click Delete All Displayed Items to erase all data.

Note: You won’t be allowed to edit the fields on your Record App via Records Designer if you do not delete all data.

Step 4: Once the Record App is empty, you can now click on Edit Record to proceed with the Records Designer.

Step 5: Modify your form fields by adding, removing, or editing them based on the data that you would want to appear on your Record App.

Important: Take note of all modifications you made on your Records Designer, especially the order of the fields (left to right) and their respective Field IDs. You will need these pieces of information once you are about to re-import and re-align your data from your Excel file into the modified Records App.

Step 6: Before publishing your Records App, open the exported Excel file from Step 2, and copy the Field IDs of all fields you have modified as they appear on your Records Designer. Steer reads the Field IDs of the Excel from left to right as shown below:



Insert the Field IDs between columns as necessary. Make sure that all characters are accurate for each field since Field IDs are case-sensitive.

Step 7: Once you are finished modifying the fields on your Records Designer, publish it.

Step 8: Go to your modified Record App and import the Excel file. Your data should now appear on the Record App. Otherwise, you might have to recheck your Field ID names if they are typed correctly.


You may also edit your published workflow. Editing your published Workflow App allows you to:
Redesign your Form
Redesign your Process Flow
Edit User Access Settings (can also be done via the Workflow’s Details page)

To do this:

Step 1: View the Workflow Details of your chosen Workflow and click the 9-dot grid on the upper-right corner of the page and click Save as New to duplicate the Workflow.

Step 2: Rename your Workflow (i.e., append “_v1 or _v2” or give it a different name entirely).

Step 3: Proceed on modifying the Form Builder, Process Flow, and User Settings as necessary.

Note: Editing your Workflow App (i.e., editing a Workflow's Form Builder fields and Process Flow design) without creating a new Workflow app is not yet supported by Steer. In this case, you must always create a duplicate or save a new version of your Workflow App if you wish to make some changes. You can always delete older versions as you wish via the Workflow Details page.


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Updated on: 25/08/2021

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