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RuleDesigner Project & Workflow

RULEDESIGNER PROJECT & WORKFLOW

Capabilities

Cross-functional project information

With RuleDesigner, it is possible to collect and manager data providing a comprehensive overview of the project or job order. The way to organize and show data can be customized, based on the company best practices, and shared across the organization.

The Project Record

Each project is enclosed in one single information record containing all the cross-functional information collected along its  lifecycle. Within the information panel, it is possible to consult the progress status of its phases, documents attached (project folder), activities, resources involved, costs of phases/projects, deadlines, warnings, check-lists, events, risks and reports. The project properties are dynamic and configurable for each project or project type and they can be linked to each other by using a rule-based logic.

Advanced classification of projects

Ability to differentiate projects by type, having, therefore,  different workflows, managers, resources and information dashboards with one, simple and complete interface. It is even possible to set up custom records, classification with customized attributes, different rules and notifications, dynamic searches, project templates, relationships between projects and all that is tightly integrated with the RuleDesigner suite.

Project Stakeholder

RuleDesigner allows to define the project stakeholders, i.e. people and organizations actively involved in the project or whose interests can be influenced by the execution or completion of the project itself (Project manager, Customer, Executive Organization, Sponsor). In this regard, the system allows to give access to the job order information and progress status. Since access is regulated by permissions based on the user role or organization of belonging, information provided is secure and reflects the user’s information needs, but it is also clear because data and information are provided already organized by project phase and/or by context.

Template/Predefined Models

Possibility to manage project templates by setting configurable workflows and managers and use such templates as best practices to be followed in case of new projects of the same type.

Permissions

It is possible to assign permissions to access the system for consulting or actively participating in project activities based on the company organization chart and specific for users / groups.

Project Relationships

RuleDesigner offers support to multi-project governance systems promoting the connection among the next generations of the same product and the interaction among projects with common resources.

Project Index

The project index represents the list of the company projects and allows to search them using advanced filters, according to their needs.

Project Assistance

With RuleDesigner, it is possible to program with rules the possible automatisms that regulate warnings and actions. The Project Assistance Tools manage rules for both the automatic execution of Actions such as the change of skills, task distribution and Notifications, and the execution of RuleDesigner Configurator processes at the occurrence of events such as the approximation of the expiration date, the opening and closing of a phase,% of completion, etc.

Offers and associated Orders

Tools are available for the creation of sales offers with approval workflow management until the order is over. Traceability and automatic storage in the correct project with the possibility of exporting to different formats such as pdf and excel.

Associated PDM data

It is possible to organize part numbers and technical drafts in new product or project development to organize the work of the design team and ensure the traceability of information, documents, associated times and costs.

Job order product

Traceability of products generated by the order with access to all the detailed information and to the technical structure.

Communication plan

In order for a project to be successful, it is crucial to determine the information needs of all stakeholders and to decide how to provide the necessary information in order to meet their informative needs. With RuleDesigner, it is possible to map and satisfy the information needs, both inside and outside of the company, also in a rule-based and automatic mode. Among the technologies available to the project teams are: chatting tools that allow you to get quick feedbacks or problem related to a specific project, email notifications useful to monitor and control the performance, archive shared document that allows a secure and regulated access to the project team from anywhere.

Import of Documents

RuleDesigner allows to import and store files and documents in any format. It is possible to import them individually or in batch mode with the possibility to classify them later on. Also, files and documents can be retrieved by different sources in automatic or scheduled mode. Finally, the storage of documents can take place directly by other applications or web services.

Creation from the template

It is possible to create documents starting from template by parameterizing attributes in the document.

Classification

Each stored document can be classified according to specific configurable “document classes”. The documents can be related to different entities managed by RuleDesigner, such as Companies, People, Products, Projects, PDM Part numbers, Offers, Orders, etc.)

For each category it is possible to define the security levels to determine the group of people enable to access or edit the documents of this category. It is also possible to specify customized security for each document.

Ability to define classification attributes for each type of document. The dynamic and configurable properties can be connected to each other by defining their implication relations with rule-based logic.

Folder Management

The module allows users to organize the documents stored in virtual folders. The documents contained in the folder can be imported by the file system simply with drag & drop, dragging individual documents or the entire folder into the system. The creation of new documents (text, spreadsheets or presentations) can take place starting from a customized model.

Automatic email storage

An important aspect of the traceability of information is related to the management of emails. In fact, many important communications and exchange of documents take place via e-mail. RuleDesigner intercepts all incoming and outgoing emails, analyses contents and stores emails as a document. This happens without changing mail server or client.

Workflow

For each document category, it is possible to define a specific approval process and intermediate authorization levels up to distribution and sharing. The approval requests are notified in real time to the interested people/figures that can operate on the workflow in mobility.

Sharing

Sharing of documents can take place with single company collaborators or groups based on rules and functions covered. Sharing can also take place with users outside the company based on their classification (customers, vendors or reseller) who can view all the related documentation by accessing to portals.

Distribution

Documents in progress can be assigned automatically by the system to specific user groups through their personal Myhome or system notifications.

Chart and lists of distribution

RuleDesigner allows to define the company chart with roles and functions for each collaborator and managing the distribution lists to notify changes on documents.

 

 

Advanced searches

There are different ways to search for stored documents: by attributes, by free search or by graphically browsing logical folders. Documents can be quickly identified by configuring custom search profiles. The results can be seen as a list or a document thumbnail.

Revisions

Functions are available to review documents and keep track of changes over time in order make eligible users able to consult document revisions and make possible to consult all revisions of the document and details of the actions carried out by users on the document itself.

Integration with Microsoft Office

Integration with Microsoft Office allows to create and edit documents directly from the Word or Excel environment, running check-in or check out operations with optimization functions while transferring files..

Document Logs

Ability to track all the actions performed by users, both in and out the company, for each document revision (consultation, edit or revision).

Notes and Messaging tools

Ability to insert notes in documents and using chat integrated tools to contextualize discussion threads.

Document boards

Classification allows to organize documents in gadgets to create custom user pages.

Synchronizations with company applications in use

Possibility to activate synchronizations with company applications to retrieve, update or delete documents, sharing them through a single integrated portal and updated in real time.

Team work coordination

Through the project management environment it is possible to coordinate activities of a working group to create technical folders or other documents that require the participation of different business functions.

Job Order Folders

By integrating the management of document to that of projects and job order, it is possible to provide a quick and secure consultation of the document heritage, drastically reduce both lead times and release of technical documentation (Product Requirements, Project Specifications, Work Package); all this  integrated to the global collaborative process management.

Product documentation

By integrating the documents within the PLM system, it is possible to collect and share all the product documentation all along its lifecycle with collaborators or company stakeholders.

Document Configurator

Configuration processes can be applied to documents for the automatic generation of technical files, manuals, assembly instructions, catalogs or price lists in one standard and homogeneous mode. RuleDesigner Configurator can produce multiple document output formats (Microsoft Office, Adobe InDesign, pdf and html) and store them automatically in the document manager.

Communication

The communication is essential for the success of a virtual project. It is also important to ensure that the right information is given to the right people at the right time and in a cost-effective way. A good communication plan can help you to achieve all this by involving project managers, sponsors and stakeholders.

Project costs

By using the project and job order manager system, project manager can set effective rules for managing and controlling costs. As a matter of fact, RuleDesigner allows to stick to the corporate budgeting rules specific for each project.

Manage resource costs

In order to cope with job orders, organizations recruit personnel both inside and outside the company, can rent or purchase material from third parties and make use of external consultancy services and collaborations. RuleDesigner allows to calculate the labour costs of its employees (based employees’ cost per hour and the numbers of hours worked) and to keep track of all costs arising from the purchase of goods and services. This allows to achieve the total cost of a single phase or order.

Project costs

RuleDesigner allows to estimate and calculate the total cost of the project by evaluating direct and indirect costs and other costs not linked to individual tasks. For each project task, main data are set such as the manager, relationships between projects, needed resources / tools  and the duration. Each task can thus be planned, controlled and estimated. Therefore, it is possible to calculate and monitor the real cost of the project which is organized in phases and tasks with detailed views for each user.

Estimate costs with a bottom-up approach

RuleDesigner allows to estimate and track costs by using users individual tasks and the total amount of hours worked per project. In fact, by using HR management functions the project manager defines the necessities in terms of resources to be involved, setting the inputs for cost calculation. Once that all the necessary information is set- activities, hours per user, skills and therefore, resources to involve –

Estimation of industrial product costs

Through the use of RuleDesigner configuration processes, available within the project environment, it is possible to estimate industrial costs and support users in the definition of the product quotation.

The application retrieves  the cost data of part-numbers /products from the ERP system. The user, driven along the insertion and selection of the proper information, configures specific quotations for different sales volumes, product variants or currencies. At the end he receives a summary of the industrial costs with the list of  types of materials, manufacturing processes, raw materials and purchasing codes.

When certain workflow conditions occur, it is possible to proceed with the generation of the report containing margins and percentages of profit and duties. The data of configurations are stored and can be used for final analysis.

Cost Control

Monitoring costs means controlling whether reference costs change and managing those changes when they occur. Organization can control costs by observing in real time any deviation between real costs and the estimated ones or by getting alert notifications sent on the basis of rules

Change management and continual improvement

The company’s responsiveness depends on how effectively it manages change. The changes can be proposed at any point along the progress of the project. The change can be submitted by  any  stakeholder (project manager, sponsor, customer, team members) and subjected to a fulfilment workflow based on the company best practices.

These types of changes which involve project processes or baselines are managed through the change management process, whose purpose is to analyse the need of change, evaluate the impact, activate procedures and implement the changes.

The change management process ensures that each change request is tracked, analysed, approved and then implemented or rejected. Each organization should prepare the change management process as a company asset.

RuleDesigner allows to manage change workflows with tools such as tickets and bug-tracking integrated with project management tools, which allow to activate and follow the different process steps:  planning, assignment, processing and monitoring. The traceability of information related to the job order is important  both to satisfy the information needs during the execution of the activities and for the correction of malfunctions or additional requests.

Tickets and Change Requests

RuleDesigner allows to manage change workflows with tools such as tickets and bug-tracking integrated with project management tools, which allow to activate and follow the different process steps:  planning, assignment, processing and monitoring. The traceability of information related to the job order is important both to satisfy the information needs during the execution of the activities and for the correction of malfunctions or additional requests.

Actions Checklist

The check-list is an area for the creation and addition of list of actionsthat must be carried out and marked as “done” to complete the project.

Quality system

Quality Management is a set of actions necessary for building the project qualitative requirements and validate such requirements along the project development. RuleDesigner allows to map all those processes that are necessary to meet with quality settings.

Resources organization

Optimize the allocation of resources to achieve the goals. RuleDesigner allows to identify the project team to be inovlved, stakeholders and plan their activities.

Definition of the project team

Definition of the participants to the project with different expertizes and functions. Thanks to its web-based nature,  RuleDesigner allows to create virtual teams made up of dislocated resources that, thanks to the use of web technologies, come together to solve problems.

Planning Work Activities

By using Activities and Planners in an integrated way, it is possible to plan activities and define the number of hours each user or resource has to dedicate to the project. In each execution phase it is possible to insert notes, activities and documents. The types of activities are dynamic and configurable: activities such as phone calls, off-site tasks, design, development, or simple text notes, are configurable and adaptable to the specific ‘modus operandi” of each company. Thanks to a single configurable web dashboard, each user can have a complete overview of his activities and information of interest, can consult and monitor information on the basis of his company role. It is possible to configure activities even with job tracking functions.

Calendar of people and resources

Calendar is the perfect tool to organize your daily work and your team work. RuleDesigner allows to plan tasks quickly and precisely, taking into account the activities already assigned and the priorities that may change over time. The indication of priorities in the calendar allows you to check activities with low priority that can be replaced. Personal Dashboards allow each team member to have evidence of the activities to be carried out by organizing their daily work in the best possible way.

Product life-cycle

With RuleDesigner, it is possible to map the project lifecycle using phases whose type and number can vary according to the company need for control… There is also the possibility to hierarchically represent the project, splitting it up according to the deliverable to produce along its lifecycle.  As a matter of fact, project phases are generally characterized by the production of an output such as a feasibility study, a detailed project, etc.  Therefore, structuring the project focusing on deliverable improves  monitoring activities as it allows to make checks not only on time and costs but also on the percentage of completion.

Temporal Sequence

Track deadlines and project status by quickly displaying all activities, from completed tasks to those in progress to upcoming deadlines. Customize the temporal sequences with different calendar formats, lattice diagrams that describe the chronological sequence of actions performed with different levels of details such as changes in project status or completed phases.

WBS

Tools for the definition of a project through phases, sub-projects and activities that facilitate the assignment of responsibilities, the definition of the budget, the timing and the performances.

Milestone

Milestones represent the key conjunctions of the project. Once one phase is closed, it is possible to define a verification point for the next steps. Those are assets of zero duration as they represent specific moments: conclusion of a production phase, order input, contract deadlines.

Scheduling Project activity

Scheduling project activity is important because it  allows, on the one hand, to visualize in advance the evolution of a project over time and, on the other hand, to monitor its progress, verifying deviations from the original plan. It includes the definition of specific activities, and related sequence, to be performed to produce the various project results. RuleDesigner allows to define different types of tasks that can be assigned to people, phases and projects and placed over time. For each activity an expected duration is assigned for the development and for tracking the status of progress. It is also possible to display the temporal representation of the project through Gantt and re-schedule phases with drag & drop.

Automation processes along the workflow

The integrated process configurator allows to model real configuration and automation processes and activate them once project events occur. Configuration processes can require users to enter guided information on the basis of context or perform automations in background mode, so without any kind of human intervention, to generate documents or perform complex tasks, querying and updating data in the platform or other enterprise systems.

Management and control of project times

Creating project schedules and monitoring their progress once they are underway is easy since RuleDesigner provides versatile and intuitive tools such as the Gantt and Pert charts. The Gantt graphically highlights the start and end dates of the individual phases, it shows eventual slippages of the activities as well as  the relationships among the activities. While, the pert chart is a representation of the action plan that describes the chronological sequence of actions planned for the completion of the project.

Management and monitoring progress status

Monitor and control the progress of the project to analyse the deviations from the schedule and intervene promptly.

Data analysis and report

Project status reporting is crucial for addressing effective project communication with stakeholders, for keeping the focus on the project team as well as on the progress of the schedule, critical issues, activities completed or to be completed and periodically  verify the project situation highlighting problems.

Dashboards for monitoring performance

Through the use of configurable gadgets, you can build custom dashboards and myhome to meet the specific needs of users or groups of users. By using such information dashboards, it is possible to consult planners, project tasks in charge, tickets, requests or recent documents. Moreover, tools are available to configure dashboards with statistics, graphs and concise data, useful for monitoring the performance of users and projects. In this way, Program and Project Manager can have an instant and effective control of project progress with real time data for each phase and / or for single user: all the information they need to make effective decisions to achieve strategic goals by controlling overall performance. Finally, tools are available  for creating and saving queries with display of data in tables and export to configurable reports and to different output formats (PDF, HTML, Excel …)

Reports

RuleDesigner allows to model and create dashboards for any need efficiently and synthetically, facilitating the communication and encouraging commitment at different levels of responsibilities. Reporting on the status of a project creates a significant value for working with good performance thanks to a homogeneous and continuous communication on all the areas including the ones to be improved. RuleDesigner provides several predefined project graphs and reports that can be used to keep the team work well synchronized even through integrated information dashboards.

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