Check Item Templates

A check item template is something that can be checked against any product of that type and it can be referenced on one or more checklists. 

Template Types

A check item template can be one of three types: 

1. Attribute: Attributes are the presence of defects either as a pass/fail or as a count of failures.
2. Text: This allows for free text input (including numbers) or an option list of text items.
3. Variable: This allows for entering a numeric value with upper and lower limits.

To create check item templates navigate to the Checklists page and click the Check Item Templates button. The Check Item Templates page is subdivided into Attribute, Text and Variable sections.

Attribute Template

1. Click the New button in the Attribute section to display the New Check Item Template input screen.
2. Complete the New/Edit Check Item Template input screen.

New/Edit Check Item Template - Attributes input screen

The following properties can be defined:

Blue fields in the form are required and are flagged with an asterisk (*) in this document.   

• Name*: Name of the attribute that is going to pass or fail.
• Type: Attribute would be prepopulated.
• Prompt*: Words that are displayed to prompt the operator to answer accurately.
• Input Control Type*: The choices in this field for an Attribute type template:
  • Check Box: 
    • Checked should mean Pass, Good, Acceptable or any other positive response to the prompt.
    • Unchecked should mean Fail, Bad, Unacceptable or any other negative response to the prompt.
  • Numeric: Required for when you want to record a count of failures or defects but you don't want it measured against specification limits as is required for a variable template. For example, to record the number of failed samples.
  • Option List: Selecting this control type will display two additional fields: 
    • Pass Text: Text that is displayed in an event of a pass.
    • Fail Text: Text that is displayed in the event of a fail.
• Product Type*: Products of the types selected can be checked for this check item. An unlimited number of product types can be selected.
• Critical*: Is this property critical? Options: Yes, No (default). This flags that this is a critical property. It must not be confused with whether the check item is compulsory. You set a check item as compulsory when you create the checklist step.
• Active: Is this check item active? Options: Yes (default), No. Check item templates can be deactivated when they are no longer valid.
• Controlled*: Is this check item controlled? Options: Yes, No (default).
• eSign Permission: The template can be used for many products. This permission allows you to change the product specification for a specific product if required. If left blank, the product specifications can be changed without an e-signature.
• Default Specification:
  • Criteria Text: The default criteria text, there to help give the operator additional guidance on how to determine a pass vs fail. Suggestion is to use this only if all or the majority of products within the type specified share a common criteria (note that this can be overwritten in individual product specifications if needed).

    Note: Special characters (e.g. < >) are not allowed in the criteria text.

Text Template

Text check item templates are used to collect data that is not a measurement or a count of defects. For example, you may want to collect a date code, or a program number. The input control for a text template can be either free text where a user types into the field, or an option list, where a user selects from a predefined list.

1. Click the New button in the Text section to display the New Check Item Template input screen.
2. Complete the New/Edit Check Item Template input screen.

New/Edit Check Item Template - Attributes input screen

The following properties can be defined:

Blue fields in the form are required and are flagged with an asterisk (*) in this document.   

• Name*: Name of the text check item.
• Type: Text would be prepopulated.
• Prompt*: This is the default prompt given to the operator doing the check. Note that this can be overwritten in each individual check list step.
• Input Control Type*: Options:
  • Free Text: An operator can type into the field.
  • Option List*: This field is displayed when Option List is selected in the Input Control Type field. It is the primary control type for collecting text product characteristics. Select the predefined list from the Option List dropdown. For more information, see the Create Option List for a Text Template section.
• Product Type*: Products of the types selected can be checked for this check item. An unlimited number of product types can be selected.
• Critical*: Is this property critical? Options: Yes, No (default). This flags that this is a critical property. It must not be confused with whether the check item is compulsory. You set a check item as compulsory when you create the checklist step.
• Active: Specifies if this check item is active. Yes is prepopulated.
• Controlled*: Is this check item controlled? Options: Yes, No (default).
• eSign Permission: The template can be used for many products. This permission gives you permission to change the product specification for a specific product if required. If left blank, the product specifications can be changed without an e-signature.
• Default Specification:
  • Criteria Text: The default criteria text, there to help give the operator additional guidance on how to determine a pass vs fail. Suggestion is to use this only if all or a majority of products within the type specified share a common criteria (note that this can be overwritten in individual product specifications if needed).

    Note: Special characters (e.g. < >) are not allowed in the criteria text
    

Create an Option List for a Text template

1. Click the New button in the Text section to display the New Check Item Template input screen.
2. In the Text section, click the Option Lists button.
3. Click the New button to display the New Option List popup.
4. Complete the New Option List input screen.

New/Edit Option List - Text input screen

The following properties can be defined:  

Blue fields in the form are required and are flagged with an asterisk (*) in this document. 

• Name*: Name of the characteristic that needs a text response. This is most often used in grading, sorting, evaluating product characteristics that are not numeric.
• Description: Description of the option list.
• Item Source*: Source of the items. Options:
  • User Defined: Options are "hard coded" manually. 
    • Value Data Type: The data type of the item source. Options: Numeric, Text. Select Items to define the Value Data Type. See the Option List Items section for how to do this.
      
• SQL Statement: Options are generated from a SQL statement.

Option List Items

1. Navigate to the Text section of the Check Item Template screen.
2. Select the Text check item and click the Option Lists button.
3. Select the user defined option that contains Numeric or Text data type.
4. Click the Items button and then click the New button.
5. In the New Item input screen, provide a name and value for each option in the list. Note that it is only the value hat a user sees in the dropdown list in the workstation.

Variable Template

Characteristics of a product are often measurements, e.g., dimensions, weight, torque. For these characteristics, you need to use a variable type of check item template.

As operators are entering numeric information on the shopfloor it is important to be clear on the unit of measure and the accuracy required. For this reason, it is recommended to specify the decimal places required and the unit of measure for the data entered.

The input control for a Variables template can only be numeric.

New/Edit Variable template

1. Click the New button in the Variable section to display the New Check Item Template input screen.
2. Complete the New/Edit Check Item Template input screen.

New/Edit Check Item Template - Variables input screen

The following properties can be defined:  

Blue fields in the form are required and are flagged with an asterisk (*) in this document.   

• Name*: Name of the characteristic that is going to pass or fail.
• Type: Attribute would be prepopulated.
• Prompt*: Provide a prompt to assist a user who is completing the checklist.
• Input Control Type*: The choice in this field is for a Variable type template. Value: Numeric.
• Product Type*: Products of the types selected can be checked for this check item. An unlimited number of product types can be selected. Product types can be Assigned/Unassigned at any time. For more information, see Product Types.
• Decimal Places: Number of decimal places.
• Unit: Unit of measure.
• Critical*:  Is this property critical? Options are Yes, No (default). This flags that this is a critical property. It must not be confused with whether the check item is compulsory. You set a check item as compulsory when you create the checklist step.
• Active: Specifies if this check item is active. Options Yes (default), No.
• Controlled*: Is this check item controlled? Options: Yes, No (default).
• eSign Permission: The template can be used for many products. This permission gives you permission to change the product specification for a specific product if required. If left blank, all permissions can change the product specification for products using this template.
• Default Specification: Note that after creating the variable check item, the default specification can be changed via the Product Specification screen.
  • Absolute Max: Used as a basic validation of the data entered by the operator to ensure that they haven’t got the incorrect UOM. For example, g vs kg, m vs cm. The system will not block you inputting higher values, but is used for statistical process control (SPC) calculations.
  • Upper Spec Limit: Values between the lower and upper limits are considered within tolerance.
  • Target Value: The target value.
  • Lower Spec Limit: Values between the lower and upper limits are considered within tolerance.
  • Absolute Min: Used as a basic validation of the data entered by the operator to ensure that they haven’t got the incorrect UOM. For example, g vs kg, m vs cm. The system will not block you inputting lower values, but is used for SPC.

Product Types

Each check item template applies to one or more product types. When a checklist is set up for a product the check item templates available for each checklist step is restricted by the templates associated with the product's product type.

Product types can be assigned when creating the check item template, or at any later time as follows:

1. Navigate to the Check Item Template screen.
2. Select a check item from one of the three types (Attribute, Text, Variable).
3. Click the Product Types button and Assign/Unassign product types against the selected check item template.

Product Specification

The product specification can be accessed from a selected check item or from an product's page. Accessing it via a check item lists all the products that use the check item in a checklist. The specifications for a product can be edited from the Product Specifications screen. For more information, see the Link to the Product Specifications documentation.

Where Used

Click the Where Used button to display all the checklists that use the check item. You can click a checklist and open its steps from the Check Item Where Used page.

Revision History

A revision history keeps record of changes that were made to a check item.

Set Inactive

A check item can be set to inactive if it is not being used in a checklist. An inactive check item cannot be assigned to a checklist. Inactive items can be set to back to active at any time. You can't delete a check item if it is referenced by a check step in any version of checklist.