IEM - Advanced Job Management

Walkthrough: Estimate a Job and get approval

In this walkthrough, you learn how to create a Job Estimate by selecting the main Elements for a Job Deliverable and per Element the Activities required to complete the Elements. When the Estimate is complete it can be submitted for Approval using the combined Lifecycle and Workflow. From an approved estimate Job Tasks can be created through the Create Job Task matrix.

About This Walkthrough

This walkthrough provides an overview of how to create an estimate, how to submit an estimate for approval, and how to use the Create Job Task Matrix. This walkthrough illustrates the following tasks:

  • Setting up the sample data.
  • Create a Job, define the Deliverable.
  • Select Elements and add Activities to the Element.
  • Completing the Estimate and submit for Approval.
  • Use the Create Job Task Matrix to create Job Tasks from an approved Estimate.

Prerequisites

To complete this walkthrough, you will need:

  • Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central
  • CRONUS International Ltd. demonstration database.
  • STAEDEAN IEM demo set.

Story

David is the dedicated sales rep for Jobs at CRONUS International Ltd. David, has made contact with the prospect and before making a first visit to this prospect he prepares an estimate for the Job he discussed with the customer on the phone. Before David can take the Job Estimate to his prospect he must have an approval from Kevin the sales manager.

Setting Up the Sample Data

The IEM demo set requires some additional setup:
Lifecycle: The IEM-JOB Lifecycle is installed by enabling Advanced Job Management in the Product Registration, make sure the Lifecycle has been Released. See also How To: Job Lifecycle:

  1. Type Lifecycles in the Search box;
  2. Locate IEM-JOB in the list;
  3. Verify that the status is Released, if not click Release in the ribbon.
  4. Workflows: The workflow(s) need to be created, make sure to first complete steps 1 .. 4 in the section Creating an Approval Workflow in How To: Job Lifecycle

For step 5 you can also import the workflow from the documentation folder in the IEM Release Package:

  1. Type Workflows in the Search box to open the Workflows list;
  2. Click the Import from File action in the ribbon;
  3. Locate the IEM-JOB Estimate Approval workflow.xml in the release package and click Open to import;
  4. Once imported, Edit the Job Estimate Approval and check the Enabled field

Users: Approvals are linked to users Windows logins and since the IEM functionality is based on Resources they need to be connected. For that reason make sure to first create a User ID for David and one for Kevin. Next link the 2 together in the user setup:

  1. Type User Setup in the Search box to open the User Setup list;
  2. Click New in the ribbon
  3. On the line select a User ID and in the Resource No. field select a Resource to act as David.

Elements and Activities repository: Elements and Activities have to be selected from a list in order to assure that the same codes are used between the different Jobs. To maintain elements type Element List in the Search box, for Activities type Activity List in the Search box.

Create a Planned Job with an Estimate

An estimate is the first state in the process flow of a Job. David knows that he has to start a Planned Job before creating an Estimate. Besides estimating the planned job can also be used for preliminary planning activities and as the starting point for a Job Quote.

To create a Planned Job, define the Deliverable

  1. Type Planned Jobs in the Search box, choose New from the ribbon in the Planned Jobs list.
  2. On the Job Card tab to the Description field and type a short description of the Deliverable for the Job (The Job No. will be assigned automatically).
  3. There are 2 option now to identify the prospect:
    1. As an existing customer: select a Customer No. in the Bill-to Customer No. field.
    2. As a contact: select a Contact No. in the Bill-to Contact No. field as well as a Customer Template Code. This customer template will be used to create a customer no. when the Job Quote is promoted to the Order state.
  4. The Name and Address fields will be completed automatically.
  5. Since we are creating an Estimate based on Elements and Activities we are skipping the Base Template Code.
  6. Complete the other fields as required. You have now successfully created a Planned Job. Next step is to create an Estimate for this Job.

Select Elements and add Activities to create the Element

A Job Element is a breakdown of the Job Deliverable, to create an Estimate you need to define at least one Job Element with one Job Activity.

  1. In the Planned Jobs select the Actions tab and click Estimate.
  2. To create a Job Element: Choose Elements from the ribbon, select a New line, in the Job Element No. field select an Element from the Element List.
  3. Repeat this process for as many Job Elements as you need to create. When done click OK to return to the Job Estimate List to find a list of, highlighted, Job Elements.
  4. To create Job Activities per Job Element: Choose Add new activity from the ribbon, select a New line, in the Job Activity No. field select an Activity from the Activity List.
  5. Repeat this process for as many Job Activities as you need to create for the Job Element. When done, make sure all Job Activities are selected and click OK to return to the Job Estimate List to find an indented list showing the Job Activities per Job Element.
  6. Repeat this process for each of the Job Elements in the Estimate.
  7. When the Element/Activity structure is complete you can start to add quantities and amounts. Per Job Activity add the estimated number of working days per activity as well as the estimated resource costs for these days, quantities and amounts will be summed in the Job Element The Job Element can be further completed with amounts for Material Costs, Expenses and Equipment.
    The Total amount per Job Element is calculated, the totals per cost type as well as the Grand Total is shown in the Estimate Totals factbox.
    Use the Estimate List action in the ribbon to print a copy of the estimate.
    You have now successfully created an Estimate, next step is to submit the Estimate for approval.

Submit an Estimate for approval and approve the request

The approval process is driven by the Job LifeCyle, setting the lifecycle to the Approve state will start an Approval Workflow.

  1. In the Planned Jobs select the Job for which you want to have the Estimate approved.
  2. Assure that the current state of the Job = 110-P-ESTIMATE. Use the Change State action to submit the estimate for approval.
    When the current state = 110-P-NEW use the Change State action to first go to the 110-P-ESTIMATE state.
  3. The program will confirm that the approval request has been submitted. Note that also the Workflow factbox is made visible on the Planned Job page showing the active workflows for this Job.
  4. Select the Navigate tab and locate Approvals to open the list of Approval entries for the Job.
    Based on the User setup in this walkthrough David?s approval request has been submitted to Kevin?s resource code. For demonstration purposes click Delegate to assign the Approval entry to yourself.
  5. When the Delegation is confirmed, close the Approval entries page and the select the Home tab. Note the Approve, Reject and Delegate actions in the ribbon.
    Note that these actions will only appear when an Approval entry is active for the record.
  6. Click Approve in the ribbon and note the following changes:
    The Lifecycle state changed to 130-P-APPROVED
    The Approve, Reject and Delegate actions disappeared from the ribbon as well as the Workflow factbox.
    You have now successfully approved an Estimate. The Planned Job can either be changed to the Quote state to create a detailed quotation or to the Order state to be executed.

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