In this article, learn about processes, process phases, and when processes are available in the mobile app
Applicable Subscription Levels:
QC MANAGER | STARTER | PRO | PRO+ | ENTERPRISE
Overview
The heart of the Idencia system is the Process. A Process is a series of Steps performed on a mobile device and used to collect information about a serialized item. Processes are built via the Idencia Management Portal, but can only be run on the Idencia Mobile Application.
Process Phases
Process steps are grouped into one or more Phases. You can build long complex processes with multiple phases or short, simple, single phase processes. For example, you could build one long process called Precast QC that includes a Pre-pour phase, a Post-pour phase, and a Final Visual Inspection & Acceptance phase. Or you could build three separate, single phase processes.
One of the most common ways to determine whether to build one long, multi-phase process or multiple short processes is whether or not all of the potential phases of the process must be completed in a particular order, or must be completed before any other process can be started.
When considering how to organize and build your processes, keep in mind the following:
- A given item can only go through one process at a time
- Once a process is started it can be paused and resumed later, but must be completed or deleted before another process can be started
- A process is not considered complete until all phases of the process are complete
- Once a process is complete, it can no longer be accessed or edited in the mobile application without management intervention (see the Correcting Process Data knowledge article for information on how to re-open a completed process).
Default Processes
Once a process has been created, it can be assigned as the Default Process for one or more Item Types and/or Custom Item Types. When a new Item is created in the Idencia system, the default process for the item's Item Type must be completed before any other process can be started.
Say, for example, you have the following Processes defined in your system.
- Concrete Wall QC Process
- Concrete Beam QC Process
- Add to Inventory Process
- Document Repairs Process
- Add to Shipment Process
You also have the following Item Types defined in your system.
- 12' Noise Wall
- 6' Noise Wall
- 8' T Beam
- 10' L Beam
- 12' I Beam
You could choose to assign default processes as in the table below.
| Item Type | Default Process |
| 12' Noise Wall | Concrete Wall Panel QC Process |
| 6' Noise Wall | Concrete Wall Panel QC Process |
| 8' T Beam | Concrete Beam QC Process |
| 10' L Beam | Concrete Beam QC Process |
| 12' I Beam | NONE |
When a 6' or 12' Noise Wall item is created, the Concrete Wall Panel QC Process will be assigned to the new item by default. No other process can be run against the item until the default process is complete. When an 8' or 10' L Beam is created, the Concrete Beam QC Process will be assigned by default and must be completed before any other process can be run.
Because the 12' I Beam item type has no default process, the user will not be forced to complete any one process first. Instead, when a 12' I Beam is first scanned on a mobile device, the Idencia Mobile Application will present the user with a list of processes available to existing items. The user will then need to choose the process they wish to run first.
Process Availability
When creating a process, you must decide whether the process will be available to existing items or only available when a new item is scanned.
A process like Add to Inventory, for example, will probably be available to existing items. Rarely would your business process call for you to add an item to inventory before the QC process is complete. By the time you are ready to add an item to inventory you will probably have run at least one other process, so the Inventory process will need to be available to existing items.
The Concrete Wall Panel QC Process, however; is a default process for the 12' and 6' Noise Wall item types. No other process can be run against a Noise Wall item until the default process is complete, and once it is complete you probably don't want (or need) to run that process again for the same item. Configuring the Concrete Wall Panel QC Process so that it is only available to new items prevents users from accidentally running that process multiple times against the same item and it narrows the list of additional processes the user has to choose from.
Using our example above, the list of processes could be configured as shown in the table below.
| Process | Available to Existing Items? |
| Concrete Wall QC Process | NO |
| Concrete Beam QC Process | NO |
| Add to Inventory Process | YES |
| Document Repairs Process | YES |
| Add to Shipment Process | NO |
Looking back at the 12' I Beam item discussed above, there is no default process for that Item Type so when an item of that type is first scanned on a mobile device, the Idencia Mobile Application will present the user with a list of processes available to existing items. Based on this configuration, the processes available to the user will be the Add to Inventory and Document Repairs processes. Neither of the QC processes, nor the Add to Shipment process will be available. Only the Add to Inventory and Document Repairs processes will be available to run against a 12' I Beam item.
In fact, because the Add to Shipment Process is not a Default process for any Item Type and it is not available to existing items, the Add to Shipment Process is not available for use at all. This configuration is usually only found when a process is first being defined and should not yet be available for use, or the process was in use at one time but has been deprecated.