DMS Processes

You may want to invest time early in the GainSeeker setup process to think strategically about your defect management goals and the key processes you need to track.

You might also consider implementing cost-tracking capability. This powerful feature can help you discover which defects are costing your organization the most. Then, you can focus corrective actions on the issues that yield the biggest improvement in reducing the high costs of poor quality.

Note: Some actions detailed in this topic may require specific rights.

 

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You can change or add to the list of DMS processes using the Select Process dialog that is accessible from either the:

Accessing the Select Process dialog

From the GainSeeker Systems Administration module:

Navigate to the Processes setting on the Configurations tab following this path:

Configurations | (configuration name) | Lists, Standards, and Tables | DMS | Processes

From the GainSeeker Charts module:

The Select Process dialog opens. See Performing action for processes and defects below.

From the DMS Data Entry module

The Select Process dialog opens. See Performing action for processes and defects below.

Performing actions for processes and defects

Fig. 1

1. Creating new processes

The New Process dialog opens:

The Process Information dialog displays. You can enter process information or click OK to accept default values for the process.

If you are creating processes with similar settings, you may want to use the Duplicate... button.

2. Entering process information

After creating the list of processes, you will need to provide some information for each process you added.

3. Building a defects list

Now, you can begin to build a list of available defects for all your processes. These are defects that are likely to be present in your processes at one time or another. Identifying specific defects is critical to the success of your DMS efforts. The master defect list is an inventory of all defects that may occur in one or more of the processes. The master defect list (labeled Available Defects) is located on the left side of the Defects for ["process"] dialog.

(In a later step, you can assign one or more of these defects to specific processes)

To add a new defect to the Available Defects list:

  1. Click New on the Defects for ["process"] dialog to display the New Defects dialog.

  2. Enter a name for the defect in the Defect text field. You can also define a cost for that defect. See Implementing cost-tracking capability below.

Repeat these steps to add additional defects to the master list.

Implementing cost-tracking capability

You can optionally assign a cost to a defect (the "cost per defect"*) in the Cost text field on the New Defects dialog.

*The cost per defect is the cost of a defect (a defective thread on a bolt, for example). You can also assign a cost per unit (the cost of the whole bolt, for example) using the Standard Information dialog. The cost per unit is the cost for the whole part (not the cost for individual defects it may have).

Also see Using the Traceability column for cost information

4. Assigning specific defects to a process

You can now assign one or more defects from the Available Defects list you created to the processes in which they might occur. In the following example, the defect Bridge is added to the list of possible defects for the process E-INSERT MAN.

The defect Bridge now displays in the Defects for E-INSERT MAN as a defect for that process.

Editing or deleting defects

Deleting a defect from the Available Defects list is not allowed. Instead, you can disassociate that defect from a process by removing it from the list on the right. Because of this, the defect remains in the Available Defects list so it can be used for analyzing historical data.

To remove a defect for a process:

Editing defects

To edit a defect name and optionally, costing information for a defect:

The Edit Defects dialog displays.

Important note about changing a defect name: If you change a defect name, all historical data stored for the previous name is henceforth associated with the new name. GainSeeker displays a confirmation dialog when this action is chosen.

Reordering or clearing the list of Selected Defects

The up and down arrows let you control the order that the items appear on the defect list, here and in the Data Entry and GainSeeker Charts modules. You may want to reposition the most frequently occurring defects so they display at the top of the list and keep the remaining defects listed in alphabetical order. To reposition a defect in the list, highlight it then click the up or down arrow until the defect is where you want it:

Another option is to use the button to sort the defects in alphabetical order (ascending).

The Clear all button clears the list of defects for the selected process.

Viewing or printing defect lists

You can use the Send to... button on the Defects for ["process"] dialog to send a list of defects for a process or a list of all defects to a text editor for viewing and printing.

Printing a process list

The Print range button on the Select Process (See Fig. 1 above) dialog lets you print a report on the processes you have set up. You can select which processes and process information items to include in the report. This report is printed to your editor

Printing bar codes

The Print bar codes button located on the Select Process dialog (that opens from the DMS Data Entry module) lets you print bar code sheets for use with the bar code data entry method for one process at a time.