Overview

The Part Numbers button in the Parts section on the Manage tab currently has three drop down menu items; one for Part Numbers, one for Part Number Formats, and an option for Part Number Identifiers.

Part Numbers

The Part Number form is used to manually add, modify, or remove part numbers. When part numbers are added or modified they must match a part number format as described below.

*Please keep in mind that if you have a part number assigned to a Work Order, the part number status must be ENABLED in order to activate the Work Order from the ODI screen.

After part numbers have been created you can use the filter and sort options at the top of the page as an easy way to narrow down to specific parts. Just as in many other applications you can click on the description header for that column to sort alphanumerically. By using the fields fields above the header, you are able to filter down your results even further by alphanumeric characters as well.

Part Number Formats

Part Number formats are used to help validate that part numbers are entered correctly into the PCS Database.  Using the part number format validation is especially helpful when part numbers are added to the system automatically.

When you are creating part numbers, you should keep in mind that only valid alphanumeric characters can be used.  Special characters should not be used. 

When adding or modifying a part number format the Format, Auto Add and Part Group fields are required but the Description is optional. 

Having the Auto Add field set to Yes will allow part number to be added automatically through the DataXchange Service if the part number does not already exist in the database.  Part Numbers can be input through the DataXchange Service by using the ODI screen or a bar code scanner. Select here for more information on ODI configuration.

The Part Group field is used to save any newly added parts from the Data Entry screen and place them within the proper group when they are automatically added. 

Part Number Format: 

Any character used in the format other than the ones symbols defined will be treated as literal characters.

Example: P####-@@   

This would require the entries to start the a capital P then 4 numeric characters followed by a - and then two alpha characters.

If one of the reserved characters used to define a symbol is required in the Part Number Format then the character can be escaped by using a backslash.

Example:  \#

The Optional character will be used to specify that there isn't a set format.  This can be used in conjunction with other formatting rules if desired.

Examples: 

********** This could be used to allow 10 characters or less to be added as new part numbers.

P#####-*** This would require the entries to start with a capital P then 5 numeric characters followed by a - and then up to three optional characters.

If a format is not specified then that would be equivalent to a format of 50 optional characters with Auto Add set to True, since 50 is the maximum length for part numbers.

Part Number Identifiers

The Part Number Identifiers form is used to specify characters to identify whether a part number should become the currently active part number or to end the currently active part number.  The Part Start and Part End identifiers are typically only used with barcode scanners.

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