Process status management flow
To demonstrate how the Status Management Flow is applied, we create a new Customer Card and the same applies for supported tables. In this example, customers that are of type Domestic need to undergo a VAT check and for customers that are of type Foreign, an additional check at the Customs office is required to see if all documentations are available to export the goods sold to the customers’ location.
- Select the Search icon
, enter Customers, and then choose the related link.
The Customers page opens. - On the action bar, select New.
Assignment of status management Flow
When a new customer record is created, initially is insufficient information to assign the record to one of the filter groups. Hence the Status Management Filter Group, and Status Management Status Description remain empty.
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On the Customer Card page, on the General FastTab, enter the Name.
Every time a field is entered or changed, the system will check if it applies to any of the Status Management Filter Groups.
The Filter Group has now changed to CUST-FOR due to the corresponding filter group with Country/Region Code <> US.
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In the Country/Region Code field, select the required code from the drop-down menu.
After filling out the field Country = USA, the system automatically detects the record is aligned with the filters of Filter Group CUST-DOM and applies this Status Management Flow to the Customer Card.
The Filter Group has now changed to CUST-FOR due to the corresponding filter group with Country/Region Code = US.
Also, the Status Management Status Description is filled with the initial status New Customer (the line with sorting 0) of the record.
In case multiple Status Management Flows apply, the Status management flow with the highest priority (meaning the lowest number) is applied.
Change status management status
Now the customer card can be promoted to the next Status by Assign Status Mgmt Status function.
On the Customer Card page, on the action bar, select Actions > Functions > Change Status Mgmt Status.
The dropdown opens with all statuses as defined in Status Management Flow CUST-DOM in order of their sorting number. In some cases, statuses are depicted in red. This can have multiple reasons:
The status is preceded by another Status set to Mandatory.
The user initiating the function does not have the Permission Role ID required to move to the next Status.
Mandatory fields
In this case, when you try to change to Credit Check. The system checks if all mandatory fields are filled out to move to this stage.
- Select the required option.
- Select OK.
An error message is produced indicating what additional fields should be filled out.
After filling out the mandatory fields Address and VAT Registration No., the customer can be promoted to status Credit Check.
Locked fields
In the Status Management Flow that we designed, the financial department must finally check the customer card and see if all important fields are filled out. Only after that can the Customer Card can be released for general use.
An employee from the finance department fills out the required fields for this step:
- Credit limit
- Posting groups, etc.
Because the fields Name and Address that were registered in the previous Status, are set up as a locked field for the Status Finance approved, it is no longer possible to change their value.
On the Customer Card page, on the General FastTab, enter Name.
An error is shown since this field is set up as a locked field when the customer has the status Finance approved.
To ensure that only specific people are allowed to assign Statuses such as Released, it is advisable to set up a few specific Permission Role IDs for approving master data and or transactions and assign them only to authorized users.
After registering all the required fields, it is possible to change the status of the customer card to Released. Only users that have the Permission Role ID setup on Status Management Status Released are allowed to assign this Status.
Based on the Blocked field value on the record linked to Status Management Status Code RELEASED, the Block field is changed to empty, allowing the use of the customer card in sales transactions.
Status management alerts
Based on the checkmark Alerts in the Status Management Setup, a Status Management alert is created every time a Status Management Status is changed. The Status Management Alerts can be found using the tell me-function.
- Select the Search icon , enter Status Management Alerts, and then choose the related link.
The Status Management Alerts page opens. - Select Back.