Service integration: introduction
Service Integration integrates Project Control Suite with the Microsoft Dynamics Business Central Service module in three ways:
- From projects to service.
- From service to projects.
- Plant maintenance.
From projects to service
Once a project is finished, a company may want to transfer the end result of the project (the deliverable) to the installed base and manage it through the service department. This transfer can be managed at two levels:
- The project deliverable linked to a service object.
- The project item linked to a service item.
The activity of creating a project deliverable is a hand-over between the project manager and the service manager.
Service objects are part of the STAEDEAN Service Integration and are introduced as the service-side equivalent of a project deliverable. The project deliverable is the end result of a project and is in most cases customer-specific. You can create a service object from the project deliverable early in the project to involve the service department from the start.
In the service department, the service object is an aggregation level for service items. Because the service object is customer- and location-specific, only service items with the same customer can be linked to it. When complete, the service object is used to add all service items to a service contract: selecting the service object automatically inserts the linked service items in the service contract lines.
From the project, service items are created from items consumed or delivered in the project when the item is part of a service item group and Create Service Item is selected. The service items are linked to the service object created from the project deliverable. In this way, the service object builds up from within the project to reflect a true "as installed" product structure.
From service to projects
In large maintenance or overhaul projects, a company may want to run the service as a project. In that scenario, the planning and invoicing capabilities of a project are used while all consumption on the service order is posted to the project.
By selecting a Service Order Type, link a service order to an existing project or create a new project based on a template. The service items in the service order are linked to a project task. All consumption on the service order is posted from the project, from where it can be invoiced.
Plant maintenance
For planning purposes, it is important to know when equipment is not available because of maintenance. With the Service Integration app, link service items to resources of the type Machine or work/machine centers through a maintenance plan. From the maintenance plan, service orders are generated. When the service is activated, absence entries are added to the calendars of the linked resources or work/machine centers.
Plant maintenance design details
Setups
Service Integration requires the following setups:
- Service object number series in Projects Setup.
- Service Order Type:
- Project Management: select whether this type must be managed from a project.
- Project Template: select a template if a project must be created from a service order.
- Project Number Series: select the numbering method for the project (service order or project template).
- Repair Status Setup, select in which state a resource task must be created or updated.
See also
| To | See |
|---|---|
| Learn how to create and manage service objects from the Service module | Service objects |
| Learn how to create service objects from project deliverables | Project deliverable to service object |
| Learn how to link service items to service objects | Service items to service objects |
| Learn how to create service items from items used in the project | Project items to service items |
| Learn how to insert a service object into a service contract | Service object to service contract |
| Learn how to link service orders to projects | Service orders to projects |
| Learn about plant maintenance | Plant maintenance |
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